Invisible
by Miss Fenway
Summary: Logan wasn't sure what was happening to him, but he did know that he needed help.  If only they could see him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N. Hello, lovlies! This is my new Cargan. It's not entirely solid all the way through yet. There are still plot holes and completely empty spots that I need to figure out and fill in. But I figured that the prologue was ready to go. I hope you like it! I don't own anything.**

The road was dark and deserted. Logan Mitchell clutched the steering wheel of his car tightly as he drove slowly through the canopy of trees that outlined either side of him. He wasn't really nervous, he had driven down this particular road alone at night before. He was just being cautious.

Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, Logan groaned. It was well past midnight, nearly one in the morning. He should have been home two hours ago. But an unexpected flat tire had forced him to change his plans. "That's the last time Kendall will let me visit a college by myself," he muttered to himself, rolling his eyes. It wouldn't be so bad except that his cell phone had died before he even left the college for the four hour ride home.

He could only imagine what was going on at home. Katie had probably fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him, his mother was probably sitting on the couch next to her, lost in thought. And Kendall. . . well, Kendall wasn't a probably. Kendall _was_ definitely pacing the floor, ready to call the police. In fact, maybe he already had called the police.

Which obviously meant that Carlos and James would find out too. Carlos' dad was the police chief in the state of Minnesota, and James. . . well, if Kendall and Carlos knew, then it would only be a matter of time before James found out too. Logan was looking forward to getting home finally, but he wasn't looking forward to the lecture he would receive. He definitely deserved it this time though. He should have made sure his cell phone was fully charged before he left. Now everyone was going to be worried.

To keep his mind off of something he couldn't help, Logan turned on the radio, flipping through the stations until he found classical music of all things. He wasn't a fan, but at one in the morning, the last thing he wanted to listen to was anything fast or loud. Besides, he had read somewhere that classical music helped you focus. And he definitely needed to be able to focus on the road right now. He was so tired.

As Logan carefully navigated a sharp curve, his headlights glinted off the hood of a car. Frowning, Logan peered through the darkness and caught sight of a car siting off to the side of the road. Three men stood by it, looking disappointed. They looked up as Logan neared them and he really had no choice but to slow down. Rolling down his window just slightly, he said, "Car trouble?"

"Yeah." One of the men nodded and smiled, seeming perfectly friendly except for the slight hint of alcohol on his breath. "You don't happen to have any jumper cables, do you? Or a phone we could borrow?"

Silently, Logan cursed himself again for letting his phone die. "Um, yeah I do have jumper cables. Hang on." Ignoring the voice in the back of his head that told him to drive on, Logan pulled slightly ahead of the first car and stopped. Getting out, he retrieved the cables from the back of his car and slowly approached the men. "Um, I don't know exactly how to-"

Suddenly, his breath exploded out of his lungs in a rush as one of the men punched him in the stomach. Doubling over, Logan attempted to stumble away, but was stopped by a second man, grabbing his arms and twisting them painfully behind his back. "Wha-"

"Don't worry, you're not the first to fall for our trick." the first man, he seemed to be the leader, whispered in Logan's ear. He smelled like alcohol even more now, but somehow, Logan could tell he wasn't drunk. That scared him even more. This wasn't a group of men so drunk that they didn't know what they were doing. They knew perfectly well what they were doing. "Don't worry, kid. Just give us your money and car keys and we'll be on our way."

A fist came into contact with Logan's face and his head snapped backwards painfully. Blood spurted from his nose and began to run freely. He opened his mouth to speak and nearly choked on his own blood as it flowed from his nose at an alarming rate. Tears filled his eyes. "Please," he whispered. "S-stop-"

He never finished. Another blow to his stomach, this time a foot, cut off his speech. The hands from behind released him and all three men started to beat on Logan mercilessly. Helpless, he tried to curl into a protective ball, wrapping his arms over his head. The blows were coming fast and heavy and from everywhere. His entire body was screaming in agony, bruises blossoming as punches and kicks rained down on him.

Logan felt and heard a crack somewhere in his ribcage and he opened his mouth to scream in pain. That sound was cut off too when he got a mouthful of boot, effectively breaking his jaw. Gasping, Logan choked again and spit out more blood and what felt like more than one tooth. His hands, trying in vain to protect his skull, were losing their grip quickly, the fingers bruising and breaking, giving in to the relentless force.

A hand slipped in the pocket of his jeans and Logan froze, his mind coherent enough to think of one word: Rape. Panicking, he let go of his head and grasped at the hand, trying to pull it away. But it only emerged from his pocket, gripping his wallet. His head was unprotected.

The same boot that had kicked him in the mouth, collided with his skull. Bright lights danced in Logan's vision even though it was completely dark outside. He tried to return his hands to his head, but he was no longer thinking clearly and couldn't even find the strength to lift his hands. Another kick to the head and the bright lights vanished. He could no longer see, but he could still hear.

"We have to move him," one of the men whispered. "He's right on the side of the road. Someone will see him as soon as the sun comes up."

"Over there then. Drop him down there."

Logan felt hands grip as his ankles and then someone was dragging him over the cold ground. He fought to cling to his last threads on consciousness, but it was a losing battle. Everything hurt, even breathing. He could feel blood soaking into his clothes from multiple injuries and his head felt as though someone was pounding on it with a sledge hammer. Nausea hit him like a tidal wave and Logan turned to his side so he wouldn't choke on the vomit. He could taste blood too and he could only hope that it was from the kick to his mouth and not from internal bleeding.

"Take it off."

Dimly, Logan heard the sound of metal scraping metal. He felt another pair of hands grab at him under the shoulders and together, two of the men lifted him up. Logan felt himself falling and then he hit the ground again with a painful thud. The metal scraped again and everything went dark.

**A/N. Well. I mean, I know it was short, but that's what prologues are for, right? I'm going to work on the next chapter of this, as well as, "All of Me", and "Thirteen Reasons." I start school on Tuesday, but I only have one class before graduation this semester, so as long as my muse stays with me, I should be okay. Until next time, thanks for reading! Have a great weekend!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N. I know, I know. It's been a very long time since I updated. I'm trying to work through some things and I think they're getting easier. I have been reminded how much I need writing as an escape though, so maybe that will work to my advantage with fan fiction. You can skip ahead to the actual chapter if you want, but first I need to get something out of the way.**

**Something has been going around the Big Time Rush fan fiction archives in the past week or so. Something that truly touched my heart and inspired me, not just to write, but to be a better person. I already posted a story called, "Dare to Believe" about it. For those of you who didn't read it, it was dedicated to FootballandBTR and my aunt as well as anyone else who has suffered from cancer or witnessed a loved one battling this cruel disease. **

**Now, I'm not going to go into detail or name any names, but odds are, you know who you are. And guys? I am appalled, ashamed, and disgusted by what had been going on. What right do you think you have to make the accusations you have been making? Do you personally know the people involved? I highly doubt it's true. You have no idea what they are going through right now and for you to accuse them of lying about something like this. . . it's incredibly wrong. I'm ashamed to be a part of this fandom right now, I really am. You took a beautiful opportunity to spread awareness about cancer and you tore it down with your mean and spiteful words. **

**Even if this wasn't true, it brought so many good things out of it. It was for a good cause. My aunt, as I've already mentioned, is going through her second battle of cancer, and I can't tell you how much it encouraged me to see so many writers step up in support of cancer victims. I get that writing a story about cancer isn't going to make them better, I get that. But it still means so much to have others reach out with their writing talents and let people know that they aren't alone.**

**And then you're reporting some of these stories or informational posts. Guys, after years of non story posts with people saying to go vote on their poll or OC contests, all of which went unreported, you're going to report something that is bringing awareness to cancer? Why? Why would you do something like that? This project started out with love and you have brought nothing but hate into it. I am so disappointed. **

**So, please. . . please stop this. If you don't believe what's going on or if you're insulted or offended, then please just don't say anything at all. Because constructive criticism is all fine and good, but there has been nothing but hate and criticism meant to hurt. You're going about this the wrong way. As cliché as it sounds, why can't we all just stick together and support one another? All we need is love, why is that so hard to understand? Please, stop the hate, guys. Please.**

**That's all I can say for now. If you have a problem, you can talk to me about it through personal messaging, but please do not review this anonymously with even more hate. I have no respect for people who hide behind an anonymous identity to get their point across. It's saying that you don't really believe in what you're saying because you don't want to fight for your belief. Don't get me wrong, the last thing I want to do with any of you is fight. But I would be willing to discuss. If you're still reading this, thank you so much for all of your patience. All I can say is, thank before you speak, and if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. **

**I don't own anything. **

A loud crash jolted Logan out of the darkness and he sat up, opening his eyes and blinking when he was assaulted by a bright light. Blinking in confusion, he glanced around and only became more confused. He was in his biology lab class. What was he doing here? The last thing he remembered was. . .

Logan's head ached. He rubbed at his temples and groaned quietly. It was incredibly hard to concentrate; everyone was talking loudly, Sam Peterson was picking up his pile of textbooks that he had dropped, and now the teacher, Mrs. Birch, had walked in and was trying to talk above her students. Another glance around the room showed Logan that no one had even noticed him.

Had he just dreamed everything? Logan had never fallen asleep in class, but he preferred it much more than being beaten half to death and dumped in an empty sewage drain. He shivered a little and shook his head. "Wait until the guys hear about this," he muttered to himself.

"All right, people, settle down!" Mrs. Birch said loudly. "It's time to get started! I assume you all have the required materials for today?"

She began listing them off and Logan looked down at his desk to make sure. Microscope, sharpened tools, dead frog. . . Logan pulled bent to pick up his backpack so he could retrieve his pencil and paper so he could take notes. "Mrs. Birch," he called out. "My lab partner, Jack, isn't here yet."

But she didn't answer him. She acted like she hadn't even heard him. Frowning, Logan opened his mouth to try again, only to be interrupted by the classroom door opening again. It was Jack. "I thought you weren't going to make it," he said with a small grin. "Everything okay?"

Jack stared right past him though. He frowned and then turned to the front of the room. "Mrs. Birch, Logan isn't here right now. Should I wait for him?"

"Jack-" Logan started to say.

"Oh, that's strange, Logan is usually the first one here and halfway through the experiment by the time I get in." Mrs. Birch frowned and walked over to Logan and Jack's lab desk. "I hope everything's all right, but I suppose we'll find out some time this week. He might be sick. The flu is going around, you know."

Logan could only stare at his teacher and classmates. Had no one really noticed that he was standing right in the middle of the room. "Hey!" he said, louder than he wanted to. No one even flinched at the sound of his voice. "Jack? Jack, can you hear me? Mrs. Birch?"

Nothing. A chill swept over Logan. No one knew he was there. They couldn't see him and they couldn't hear him either. His chest started to feel tight and he forced himself to take a few deep breaths. "Think, Logan, think!" he said aloud since he apparently wouldn't be distracting anyone from their work.

He picked up his heavy backpack and held it high in the air before letting it fall with a crash. Nothing. Panicking, Logan shoved the microscope off the table and watched the expensive piece of equipment break into tiny pieces. He then looked over at Jack only to find the other boy peering through the lens of the very same microscope he had just broken.

Logan staggered out of the classroom, forgetting about his books. The hallways were completely deserted. Classes were all in session. It was silly, but Logan had suddenly never felt so alone in his entire life. He stumbled over nothing and fell to the floor in his hands and knees, shaking all over. Climbing back up to his feet, Logan leaned against the lockers while he tried rather pathetically to get his bearings.

Kendall. He had to get to Kendall. Kendall would be able to help him. Kendall and Carlos and James. What classes were they in? His mind raced as he tried to remember what had always been a sort of instinct for him. He knew his friends' schedules better than they knew them themselves. Usually. When he was panicking like this, it was almost impossible to think at all.

Kendall had. . . English, didn't he? Logan didn't know for sure, but it was better to start somewhere than just stay pacing around the halls in disorganized panic. The halls were empty and he immediately took off sprinting in the directing of Kendall's English class, surprised that he could remember the location of that room when his mind was in such a daze.

He didn't see anyone on his way to Kendall. Part of him was relieved, because he didn't think he could take a single interruption. And yet, part of Logan was also wishing he could see someone and that they could see him. He needed an explanation of what was going on. If the guys couldn't help him, he didn't think anyone could. Logan was doing everything he possibly could to avoid thinking about what might happen if his best friends couldn't help him.

How could this be happening? And what was it that was happening? Logan was the type of person to look toward logic for answers, but this time he couldn't see any logic. There was no theory or explanation or. . . or anything. It terrified him.

"Please, please, please." Logan chanted as he reached his destination. He fell against the door and shoved it open so forcefully that it slammed into the wall inside the classroom, creating a deafening crash that should have startled the whole class.

No one flinched. Logan shut his eyes so tightly that he saw fuzzy spots dancing around the blackness. He opened them again and then glanced around, searching frantically for Kendall. He had to be here. He had to. "Kendall?" he tried to call out. It came out in a frightened and choked whisper, so he tried again. "Kendall?" Louder this time, but the result was the same. No one heard him. And even worse, Kendall wasn't there.

"Excuse me," Logan tried approaching the teacher, he couldn't remember her name, hoping against hope that _she_ could hear him. "Ma'am?"

Again, there was nothing. She stood up from her desk, looking straight through Logan. She spoke to her students, but Logan didn't hear a word she was saying. He turned around and walked out of the classroom, slamming the door behind him just in case. When no one came out to yell at him, he slid down against the wall and rested his head on his knees and started to cry.

Nothing was making sense. For some reason, no one was aware of him. At all. They didn't see him and they didn't hear him no matter what he tried. Kendall wasn't where he was supposed to be and Logan was now too afraid to look for James and Carlos. He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't find them.

Part of Logan wondered if he was overreacting. How long had it been since he woke up in biology class? It couldn't have been much more than ten minutes. Maybe he was deep in a dream and having trouble waking up. He couldn't lose it now. He had to think and he had to act.

But what could he think and what could he do? Logan lifted his head and took several huge breaths, letting them out in long sighs. "Calm down," he whispered to himself, brushing furiously at his eyes. "Crying definitely isn't going to help anything. You have to think!"

Think. Okay. Think. His cell phone! Logan sat up against the wall and reached for his pocket, inwardly screaming at himself for his stupidity. Of course! His cell phone, was it really that hard? He could call home and have everything be explained. If home didn't work he would call one of the guys or his mother and even Katie. A phone call would fix everything.

If. . . if he had his phone with him. Groaning, Logan let his head fall back against the wall with a thud. "Where is it?" he hissed in a whisper. He always had his cell phone with him and it was almost always fully charged. His dream. . . or whatever it had been, his phone hadn't been charged, but. . . that meant it had to be a dream, right?

A bell rang interrupting his scattered thoughts. Logan glanced up as the classroom doors opened and a parade of students stormed out into the halls, rushing to their lockers or the next class. Briefly, he entertained the idea of sticking out his foot and tripping someone. Maybe that would get their attention. But when someone practically tripped over him all on their own and didn't appear to notice, he gave up on that idea.

"I'm going home," he muttered. There was nothing else he felt he could do. Logan stood up and glanced around one last time. He saw plenty of familiar faces, but no one saw him. He didn't even see anyone he really wanted to see. He wanted Kendall or Carlos or James, or better yet, all of them.

Logan stepped outside into the sunlight, blinking a little. His head was still throbbing painfully and the bright light certainly didn't help. Looking around the big parking lot, his heart fell a little when he didn't even his friends' cars. Granted, it was a big parking lot and there was no way he could see every car in one glance. That didn't make it easier though.

It was only when he got out of the parking lot that Logan realized he would have to be walking home. It was a long walk home, but maybe it would give him some time to calm down and think. Collect his thoughts. . .

Yeah right. Maybe if someone he saw while he was walking gave him a passing glance, but not even the neighbor's three Rottweilers. Barked when he walked by their house. Instead of calming down, Logan began to feel even worse. His head hurt so badly that it felt like it was blinding him and by the time he did reach his house, he could hardly walk.

Logan started to walk down the driveway when something caught his eyes. The sight of the police car sitting by the curb outside his own house really did make his legs collapse right out from under him. He fell to his knees knees shaking all over. The pounding in his temple reached such a level that it was almost as if he could hear someone slamming a hammer over and over again in his brain. His chest felt tight with fear and it was all he could do to get back up on his feet.

Logan didn't remember walking up the porch steps and opening the front door. He didn't remember walking in his house. All he could suddenly focus on was the three uniformed police officers sitting in _his _living room, talking with _his _family.

Katie was curled up on the couch shaking with small sobs. She looked tiny and fragile and Logan took a step toward her, his hand held out to put on her shoulder. But his mother got to her first, pulling her into her arms. Logan could see that she was trying hard to not cry as well, but he could also just as easily see that it was a losing battle.

Kendall was standing over the police officers, looking taller than usual, but somehow smaller at the same time. It might have been the uncharacteristic slump in his shoulders and the tortured look in his eyes. His blond hair was tangled and tousled and Logan saw why as he ran hands through it once again as he nailed one of the officers with his stare. Carlos' father. Logan swallowed hard, feeling sick to his stomach. He sat down in the middle of the floor and put his head between his legs, simply listening. He could no longer watch.

"What do you mean you don't even know where his car is?" Kendall was demanding. "We told you where he went and everything. There's nothing else to tell you!" The anger in his voice scared Logan and he looked up just in time to see Kendall ticking off things with his fingers. "He went up to Minnesota University to meet with an adviser and talk about their programs. He should have been home at 10:00 or 11:00 last night. He never called, he either has his phone off or the battery died. He didn't-" and suddenly Kendall's voice cut itself off and the anger melted away into nothing but fear. "He never came home last night." he whispered.

"Kendall, we know." Mr. Garcia- or rather, Officer Garcia, said gently. "I told you, we had men going back and forth between the University and here. They didn't turn up a single thing."

"Well, what about you?" Kendall pointed out. "You and Luke? Did you two look?"

Luke Adams, Officer Garcia's right-hand man since the boys had been little. When Mr. Garcia wasn't available, they had always _always_ been able to depend on him. But he looked as helpless as everyone else in the living room. "We were the first ones to look," he said softly. "We plan to go out again as soon as we finish up here too."

"It's 8:30 in the morning," Kendall spoke haltingly. "Logan should have been home ten hours ago. You're the police, Logan is your son's best friend. Luke, you've known him almost as long as I have. You guys have to-" Kendall's voice broke. "You have to find him. Please."

"Kendall," Logan pleaded. "Kendall, can you hear me?"

Kendall was crying now. Logan wanted to look away. He didn't know how he could keep his eyes on his best friend, his brother, the person he had idolized more than anyone else in the world, when he was completely broken like he was now.

"He's my brother," Kendall sobbed as he sat down on the floor, inches from Logan. "You have to find him, please! The more time that passes. . ." he trailed off and shook his head violently.

"Sweetie," their mother murmured tearfully. She and Katie moved from the couch to sit with Kendall and together, the family embraced each other, trying to give and receive comfort. "Everything will be okay, baby. Logan is going to be okay. We'll get him with us where he belongs."

"We'll find him, Kendall." Luke said suddenly, breaking the first rule of a police officer. Never make promises you can't keep. He wasn't the type to do such a thing and it gave Logan help. It anyone could help them all, Luke and Carlos' father could.

He looked over at his family again, thinking of how much they meant to him and all they had given to him. They had given him a family, not just when they adopted him when he was fourteen, but before when his mother was dead and his father was buried in his work. And now they were all broken and in tears. Over _him. _And there was absolutely nothing he could do to help them.

Reaching out slowly, Logan placed his hand on Kendall's shaking shoulder. His eyes filled with tears when his brother didn't even flinch. He was invisible to him as well. He could only move on and go to James or Carlos. James lived closer, so Logan would go there first. And after that- no, he wasn't going to think of his next move after James. He could only do one step at a time.

Logan stood up and leaned down close to his family and whispered in Kendall's ears. "Please find me."

**A/N. Oh, and this story is based very slightly off of the movie, "Invisible". I wanted to wait before I told anyone so I didn't ruin everything, but. . . yeah. Anyway, hopefully you liked it. I'm going to try to start updating at a more regular pace. In the meantime, thank you so much for your patience that I certainly do not deserve. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N. This chapter is fairly short, but I think it serves its purpose. Hopefully anyway! I was up past 1 AM writing it so I apologize in advance. I don't own anything!**

Get to James' house. That was Logan's one thought as he left his own home and closed the door. It was his one thought as he crossed the street, forgetting to look both ways, and walked straight through the neighbor's backyard. Since he was apparently invisible to everyone, no one would mind if he took the short cut. He needed to get to James' house as soon as possible. Before he cracked. That was why he repeated the same four words over and over again as he walked Through the wooded area that led to his destination.

As long as he kept himself at least semi distracted, Logan could somehow manage to keep himself together. He tried his best not to think about Kendall and his mother and sister, broken and sobbing on the living room floor. He tried to block out the memory of Mr. Garcia and Luke both struggling against their own tears. It was impossible to forget, but if he fought hard enough, he could almost completely avoid thinking about it.

He was reminded though, of a psychology class he had taken last year. He couldn't recall all the details, especially with the way his head was still throbbing, but he could still practically hear the teacher's words in his ears even as he stumbled out of the trees and caught sight of James' house.

_"Don't think of an elephant," the man had said, seeming to pin all twenty of them with one stare. "Now tell me: What was the first thing you thought of?"_

_"An elephant," they all responded without hesitation. _

Logan was like that now. He was trying not to think about the scene he had just left behind, but to not think of it, he had to think about it, and-

"Stop it!" he scolded himself, reaching up to massage his temples. "You're just making things worse by over thinking!"

He had long ago given up trying to figure out what was happening. He was invisible to everyone. They couldn't even hear him, and everything that he touched, went unaffected where they were all concerned. He left behind no tracks. It didn't make any sense and thinking made Logan's head hurt even worse.

Kendall not even being able to see him had shaken Logan a lot though. He and Kendall had always been especially close, and to suddenly have that connection completely cut off was absolutely terrifying to Logan. He felt like he had lost an arm or a leg.

He forced all of that in the back of his mind as he hurried up the steps of James' front porch. He started to knock, then remembered that they had been walking unannounced into each other's houses since they were nine, and pushed open the front door.

"James?" he called, not expecting a response. "James, can you hear me?"

Nothing. The house was as silent as a graveyard. It gave Logan an eerie feeling, not that he wasn't already creeped out, and he shivered slightly. He hurried around the first floor, searching for James, unsurprised when he didn't see him.

The first floor, however, was not deserted. Logan came to a quick stop in his mad dash into the kitchen when he saw a familiar couple sitting together at the table. Their faces were gray with anxiety and stained with tears. Each of the held a mug of what looked to be cold coffee between their hands. They looked exhausted.

"Mr. Diamond?" Logan whispered, approaching them hesitantly. "Mrs. Diamond? Can you- can you hear me?"

"I just don't understand, Rob." Mrs. Diamond let out a shaky sigh. "Where could he be? Nothing about this is right. Logan isn't the type of boy to let anyone worry about him."

"I know, honey," Mr. Diamond let go of his coffee with one hand to take hold of his wife. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and tried to smile. But Logan could see how afraid he was, and the action fell way short. "Carlos and Luke and the other police are out looking for him now. All we can do is-"

"Robert, James is right." Mrs. Diamond said. Logan flinched at the sound of his best friend's name. "We can't just sit by and do nothing! Logan is like a son to both of us. Would you be sitting here if it were James?"

"No, Brooke." Mr. Diamond shook his head quickly. "Of course not. I want to look for Logan as much as you do. But we have no idea where to look. We only know-"

"Where he was supposed to be," Mrs. Diamond interrupted. "That's just as much as the police know, Rob, and they're out looking. So what are we doing?"

Mr. Diamond looked up, fear written all over his features. "I don't know if I can handle losing anyone else right now," he admitted. "You and James are safe right now, and no one has any idea what happened to Logan. What if-" he broke off, unable to continue.

"What if it were James?" Mrs. Diamond repeated softly.

Logan clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle a line sob, forgetting that they couldn't hear him anyway. Tears blurred his vision and he hurriedly blinked them back.

The Diamonds were talking about him as if he were their son. They were taking about what they wanted to do, no matter how helpless they all were.

"Rob?" prodded Mrs. Diamond very gently.

Finally, Mr. Diamond looked up and Logan was shocked to see tears swimming in his eyes. He had never seen Mr. Diamond cry. "I would search everywhere for him," James' father said quietly, his voice thick and choked with images tears. "I would search the world over for him and not stop until I found him, or the end of my life, whichever would come first."

He lifted his wife's hand to his lips and kissed her gently. "Please," he begged her. "Stay here with James. At least until we know that the area is safe."

Mrs. Diamond looked like she would rather do anything other than stay home while her husband went out to search. But she was also afraid for James' safety and she knew there was no way they could both go without him. So she nodded.

The burden on Mr. Diamond's shoulders seemed to become a little lighter with his wife's assent, and he stood up, pulling her to her feet as well, and then collecting her in a hug. "Thank you," he whispered.

Logan didn't hear her response. He turned and fled away from the kitchen, running blindly to the stairs. He tripped halfway up and wrapped his arms around his legs and gave into his tears, crying hard into his knees.

He had never been able to really question the love that he received from his family and friends and their families. In reality, they were one big, tightly knit, family, drawn together by the bond between the four boys.

Yet, that didn't mean he would ever grow accustomed to having James' parents or Carlos' parents say without hesitation that he meant just as much to them as their own biological children did. What a fool he had been to think he didn't have a family when he was growing up.

A family. Brothers. He had always had three of them, and one was upstairs, possibly able to help him. Logan straightened up, just in time to see Mr. Diamond kiss his wife one last time and then walk out the front door. "Thank you," he whispered softly.

Standing up, he climbed the rest of the stairs and walked quickly down the hall. Unsurprisingly, James had his door closed. Deciding he would probably fall apart again if his knock went unanswered, Logan opted for the more forward approach. He opened the door and walked right in.

At first, he was so shocked that he didn't even notice James. He was too busy taking in his destroyed surroundings that he had once thought to be James' room. "James." he whispered, appalled.

It looked, quite literally, like a hurricane had hit. The dresser was overturned, as well as the desk, both spilling their contents out all over the floor. A lamp had been thrown and smashed against the wall, creating a sizable dent in the wall, and littering glass on the carpet. Even the headboard on James' bed had a long crack running straight down the middle.

Logan stared, almost in awe of the mess. Then he heard someone crying quietly, and he turned quickly to the closet, knowing that it was where James always his when he was younger and upset or scared.

"James," he pleaded, brushing aside the clothes hanging up inside. "Can you hear me?"

Sure enough, James was all the way to the back, doing nothing but staring right ahead. Straight through Logan. His eyes were red and puffy and he clenched one hand in a fist to his chest.

Swallowing his disappointment and fear, Logan leaned closer, catching a better glance at James' hand in the dim light. He gasped when he saw the swollen and bruised knuckles and the deep gash all the way across the hand. It was obviously very broken.

"James, can I help you?" Logan asked, getting no response. He reached out anyway and touched James's hand. James didn't flinch.

Logan opened his mouth to say something, but a new set of footsteps was heard,

and soon, Mrs. Diamond was right behind him.

"Oh, James." she gasped, instantly pulling James out into the open where she held him close.

James started to cry then, and Logan watched helplessly, and a little jealous, as his mother sought to comfort him. He wanted to help James. He wanted to help all of them. But nothing he said or did had any effect.

He could not just sit back and watch them suffer like this. Logan stood up again, growing wearier and wearier with each failed attempt. The aching in his skull had grown even worse, so that every once in a while he would be blinded by tiny flashes of light. He turned away from Mrs. Diamond and James, only to see another sign of James' panicked rage and probably the cause of his broken hand. The full length mirror on the back of James door had a curiously fist shaped hole right in the middle.

Logan's stomach turned uncomfortably and taking a deep breath, steeling himself against more tears, he walked out of the room, his thoughts drowned out by the sound of everyone he loved crying for him.

* * *

><p>Carlos. Carlos. Get to Carlos. Logan's feet were dragging as his he made his way to Carlos' house. An exhaustion beyond anything he had ever known before was pulling at him, the force become stronger as time passed. His headache had reached such an awful level that at one point, he had needed to stop and throw up from the sheer pain.<p>

It was getting harder to think too. Before, Logan had had trouble controlling his thoughts, now he was having trouble thinking at all. He repeated one single word as he walked; a name. Carlos. Carlos. Carlos.

It felt like hours before he reached the corner of the street where Carlos lived. Weak and shaky, Logan had to stop and rest. He lowered himself down on the curb and put his head between his knees, hoping the nausea would simply go away this time.

In the distance, he heard a front door shut quietly, but he didn't bother to look up. It was only when a set of footsteps came closer and closer, sounding Luke they were actually approaching him, that Logan gave into curiosity.

His heart dropped once more. It was Carlos. And he took no notice of Logan sitting on the curb. Logan wanted nothing mire than to die right then and there. The only explanation he had was that he was dead after all and that he was a ghost. He didn't like being a ghost at all though. It hurt too much.

How could it hurt if he was dead though? Not to mention the jackhammer inside his brain. Logan groaned and lay across the sidewalk. Everything hurt.

Above him, Carlos stood at the corner, pacing nervously. He was waiting for the bus, Logan realized. But why would Carlos want to take the bus? And where did he want to go?

Logan shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up at Carlos. He looked just as terrible as everyone else had, red and teary eyes, runny nose, and a pale face. But unlike the others, his shoulders were thrown back, his head held high. He looked. . . determined.

"I don't care what anyone says," Carlos muttered angrily. "I don't care who my dad has out there looking for him. I'm not going to sit at home while Logan is-" he stopped and never finished.

Logan watched him in astonishment. Every fifteen seconds, he would glance behind him back at his house, as if he was terrified that his mother would see him and try to bring him back. He never stopped pacing and was constantly muttering so low that Logan could hardly hear him.

For an instant though, Carlos cracked. His bravado weakened and he stopped his pacing to sit right next to Logan. Taking a shaky breath, he whispered, "Logan, where are you?"

He had tried with everyone else, so Logan knew he had to try again with Carlos. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, praying. "I'm right here, Carlos." he said, willing it to work this time.

For a split second, nothing happened, and Logan's heart began to sink so low that he knew he would never be able to recover. But only for split second.

Carlos jumped so violently that he startled Logan. Rising quickly to his feet, the younger boy whirled around in circles, his eyes wild and desperate. "Logan?" he whispered again, too shocked to speak any louder.

Stunned, Logan could only stare at first. "C-Carlos," he choked out in disbelief.

Carlos was still turning in quick circles when Logan stood up. "Logan!" he cried out, a little louder this time. "Logan, where are you?"

Logan stared hard at Carlos, too in shock to realize what was happening. "Carlos," he said finally, when mere seconds seemed like hours. "You can hear me."

**A/N. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you liked this! Have a great day, guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N. Hola! Coma esta usted? Okay, I've reached my limit. Reason #34563 Laura will fail her Spanish class this year. Anyway, I'm glad to be able to update again so soon. It just feels so right this way. Thank you to everyone who has continued to support me through the highs and lows. You're all amazing. Oh! One more quick note: The next few chapters will be in Carlos' POV. So, don't get confused lol.**

**I don't own anything**

There were three possible explanations as to why Carlos was hearing Logan's voice right now:

One, he was dreaming. This was a perfectly reasonable explanation since Carlos had had dreams of just about everything and everyone, including his three best friends. In fact, he had a reoccurring dream where the four of them were actually top secret agents saving a princess from an evil villain dressed in white clothes. So yes, it would be perfectly reasonable to assume he was dreaming right now. But Carlos found himself doubting this explanation.

Two, he had gone crazy. In Carlos' opinion, this was just as likely as the dream scenario. Logan hadn't even been missing for a full twenty-four hours, but the knowledge that one of his very best friends in the world wasn't safe, was enough to make him go insane no matter how much time had passed. He actually believed in this explanation more than he did the first. Yet, he still doubted it.

The third explanation was the one that Carlos actually believed in more than the other two put together. He was sure that anyone else would have told him that it was impossible, but he wanted to believe in it so badly that he couldn't help but latch onto it the instant it came to his mind: He wasn't dreaming and he wasn't crazy. He really was hearing Logan's voice. That was all he needed.

Carlos sat back down so the would would stop spinning around him, and closed his eyes. "Logan," he spoke aloud, his voice trembling.

"Carlos, you can hear me." Logan repeated, his soft voice sounding unusually rough with tears.

"Why can't I _see_ you though?" Carlos begged. "Logan, are you- are you. . . _dead_?" His voice cracked on the last word, sounding as fragile as a thin sliver of glass. Carlos made tight fists with his hands and let his fingernails dig into the soft skin of his palms. He was drawing blood, but he hardly felt the sting. No pain would ever compare to losing Logan.

There was a pause and Carlos was afraid he had lost Logan all over again. Then, "I don't know."

At that moment, Carlos wasn't sure which emotion was stronger: The relief that Logan was still, somehow with him, or the fear that neither of them knew what was going on. Since the latter emotion wouldn't help in any way, Carlos let the relief wash over him. "Logie," he whispered tearfully.

"Carlos," Logan sounded about as stable as Carlos felt. "I don't know what's happening. . . I've been to school and my house and James' house. . . you're the only one who can hear me. And you can't even see me! Carlos. . . I'm scared."

Carlos flinched. It wasn't like Logan to admit to being afraid. "Me too," he said softly, wishing more than anything he could at least hug Logan.

Drawing in a deep breath, he looked in the direction of Logan's voice. He couldn't see him, but it still brought a little bit of comfort to Carlos when he heard his voice. And if he looked towards the sound of his voice, he could at least pretend he could see him. "Logan, what happened last night?" he asked slowly.

"I don't- I don't know." Logan said, sounding incredibly frustrated. "I'm not sure what's real and what isn't. "My head is killing me, Carlos! It's hurting so much that I can barely think! I don't know what to do."

"All right, well. . ." Carlos wasn't usually the one who did the thinking. He didn't make decisions either. He was willing to step up and do anything if it would help Logan though, so he racked his brain, thinking of something. . . anything.

He suddenly got an idea. "Kendall said you went to Minnesota University to visit and meet with an adviser. You. . . you never came back and you didn't call either. And you're not answering your phone, so it's probably. . . dead." Carlos flinched at his choice of words and shrugged. "That's all anyone knows. Does it help at all?"

He heard Logan sigh and then say, "I think I remember. . . but like I said, I'm not sure what's real and what's not real."

"Just tell me everything then," Carlos suggested.

"Okay," Logan replied, sounding like he was trying to think hard. "I was driving home and I was late because. . . because I had either run out of gas, or I had a flat tire. I'm not sure."

Again, Carlos heard overwhelmed frustration in Logan's voice. "Maybe it doesn't matter," he encouraged. "Just keep going."

"I was driving home," Logan repeated. "My cell phone died, so I couldn't call and explain what had happened. I remember thinking that Kendall was going to kill me and then never let me go anywhere by myself ever again."

If the situation wasn't so serious, Carlos might have laughed. Instead, he thought of how_ no one_ would ever let Logan be alone again. If only they could just find him now. . .

Logan was still talking, sounding more sure of himself with every word, so Carlos listened carefully. "I had reached a bend in the road and. . . there was a car pulled over on the side near the treeline. I'm lucky I didn't hit them."

"So you didn't get in an accident then?" Carlos asked, holding his breath. He was even more confused now.

"No," Logan said quietly. "No, I pulled over to see if I could help, and. . ." Suddenly, his voice rose in panic and alarm as it all came back to him. "Carlos, they attacked me!"

Carlos' heart dropped so low that he could hardly feel it beat. "Who?" was all he could manage.

"I don't know!" Logan exclaimed, and Carlos could practically seem him tugging at his dark hair, something he often did when he was overwhelmed. "I had never seen them before in my life. I think there were three of them, but I could be wrong. They smelled like they had been drinking, but I couldn't tell exactly how intoxicated they were. I got out of the car to get the jumper cables from the trunk. . ."

Carlos felt sick to his stomach. He had a very good idea of what had happened next, but he still didn't want to hear it. If it would help Logan though. . . "And?" he asked when Logan was silent for too long. He'd listen to him say anything as long as he could hear him.

"And they just . . . attacked me, Carlos. They just started to beat me up, hitting and kicking for no reason at all." Logan suddenly moaned in pain. "Carlos, my head. . . it's hurting even worse now!"

"Logan," Carlos whispered. "What did they do with you?"

There were pained tears in Logan's voice that for some reason, scared Carlos more than anything else. "They wouldn't stop," he said, every word tight and laced with pain. "They kept kicking and punching me. Everything. They wouldn't stop. And then they. . ."

Every time Logan trailed off, Carlos was afraid he had lost him. He counted to three and then prompted his friend. "Then? Logan?"

"Carlos, they dragged me!" Logan said so loudly that Carlos jumped. "They grabbed me and they just started to drag me through the woods, I think. Not too far though, because. . . they dumped me down an empty sewage drain or something."

Carlos gasped and then jumped to his feet. "Logan, you have to tell me where all of this happened! Can you do that?"

"I think so. . ." Logan replied hesitantly. "Shouldn't we. . . tell an adult?"

Carlos almost laughed, but instead tears came to his eyes. It was bittersweet hearing Logan say something like that. "Logan, do you really think anyone is going to believe me when I tell them that I'm hearing your voice?" he quickly pointed out. "Would you believe me?"

"I wouldn't," Logan admitted. "And like I said, you're the only one who has heard me. . . Why do you think that is, Carlos?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out." Carlos gestured to the bus that had just rounded the corner on the other end of the street. "Come on. We'll take this bus. That way, no one can-"

"Carlos!" the front door flew open and Carlos' mother stood on the porch, looking very alarmed. "Carlos, what-"

She was yelling at him, but not in anger. She was afraid. And reasonably so. They had already lost Logan mysteriously and now her son was about to leave right in front of her eyes. Carlos braced himself and turned his back to his mother, climbing on the bus as soon as it pulled up to the curb and opened its doors. "Come on," he said quietly to Logan.

"Carlos, your mom!" Logan sounded shocked. But he was on the bus with Logan and that was all that Carlos really cared about. He didn't even care about the odd stares he was getting.

"All that matters right now is finding you," Carlos said firmly. "I'm going to save you, Logan. I promise." He paused to pay the bus fare for himself and Logan, telling the astounded bus driver that he could keep the change. Then, he took the seat closest to the door. "Sit next to me," he whispered to Logan.

They drove in silence, headed to the airport. Carlos was confident that they would go right by, or at least, close to the spot Logan had been attacked. "Just keep your eyes wide open," he muttered. "And tell me when we get there." His cell phone rang for the sixth time in three minutes, but he ignored it.

"'kay," Logan replied.

Logan, Carlos was quick to realize , was sounding more and more tired as time dragged on. He hadn't even really argued with Carlos' split second decision, and every time he did talk, he didn't say much. His voice was weary, his words slightly slurred. He sounded like Kendall when he got a concussion in a hockey game two years ago.

Carlos put every fear aside. He didn't know what was happening or why it was happening. But he wasn't going to question it, because it wouldn't help Logan. He needed to do whatever would help Logan, even if it was completely insane. It was worth the risk, no matter what happened.

"Here!" Logan said suddenly, and Carlos jumped to his feet.

"Stop!" he demanded, so loudly that the bus driver jammed on the brakes and he nearly fell over. Again, he ignored everyone else on the bus and jumped out into the bright sunshine. At the last second, he wondered if the driver would stay until he found Logan. But before he could even turn around, the doors had closed and he was left in a cloud of dust.

Carlos shook it off. He would call his dad. "Okay, now where, Logan?"

There was no response. An icy chill swept over Carlos and he yelled, "Logan! Logan, can you hear me?"

Nothing. Heart pounding, Carlos struggled to think straight. Maybe he didn't have a connection with Logan anymore because they were too close to. . . his body. It didn't make much sense, but then again, nothing about this made any sense at all. There was an alternate reason, but Carlos shoved it away.

"Okay," he said to himself. "Just calm down and. . ." he trailed off, suddenly remembering what Logan had told him. He sprinted towards the woods in search of a sewage drain. It could be absolutely anywhere, but that wasn't going to stop him.

He stumbled upon it almost instantly, and dropping to his knees, Carlos shoved away the heavy lid, adrenaline powering through his bloodstream. "Logan!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Logan, it's Carlos! Can you hear me?"

Sunlight pierced through the trees overhead, lighting up the dark hole before Carlos. He leaned forward, being careful not to fall, and called out again. "Logan!"

Logan wasn't in there. Carlos saw perfectly down there and all he could see was the bottom. It was stained red with blood and he sat back, feeling sick again. Yanking his cell phone out of his pocket, he called his dad.

"Carlos!" his dad's voice interrupted the first ring. "Where are you? Your mother-"

"Dad, I know where Logan is!" Carlos burst out. "I mean. . . not exactly, but-" he gave up on trying to sound logical and gave rapid fire directions to his location. Then he tossed his phone aside and whirled around, looking for any clue.

Blood. Carlos noticed it for the first time. It wasn't just down in the sewage drain. It was everywhere. It covered the ground around him, staining the leaves in a nauseating brownish-red. It was all dry, obviously because it had been sometime since Logan's body was dragged across the ground. But there were two trails. One leading out of the forest where Carlos had come from, and-

The river. Carlos' throat dried up in fear and he jumped to his feet. The river, of course! The perfect place to dispose of a body. Except Logan was still alive, Carlos was positive of it. He just had to be. Carlos didn't think about anything else as he ran faster than he ever had in his entire life. Each beat of his heart, each thud of his footstep, beat out a chant that he said in his mind.

_Find Logan. Find Logan. Find Logan._

At last, he emerged from the trees and stumbled into the clearing. There was the river, still several yards ahead, but in his sight. Dark and cold, it ran swiftly and deep, containing violent, churning rapids that smashed even the best canoers and kayakers up against sharp rocks. And down by the shore, caught in brush, was Logan.

"Carlos!"

Carlos spun around and cupped his hands over his mouth. "By the river" he screamed, praying that his words would carry. Then, he took off again

Logan was half in and half out of the water. The surrounding water was red with blood, and as Carlos drew nearer, he could see that Logan wasn't moving.

Without hesitation, he plunged into the river, gasping as the icy water stole his breath from him. "Logan!" he cried out, bracing himself against the strong undertow. Logan's head was barely above the water and he dropped to his knees besides his still friend and quickly elevated his head. "Logan, can you hear me?"

He was breathing, but only just barely. His skin was almost as cold as the water and his lips were a faint shade of blue. Carlos wrapped his arms around his upper body as gently as he could, while being sure that he had a firm grip.

"Carlos?"

He almost collapsed in relief at the sound of his father's voice. He glanced up to see his dad, Luke, another police officer, and several EMTs emerge out of the trees and hurry to the river. "Dad!" he shouted. "Hurry! I found him! He's still alive!"

_Still alive_, Carlos thought joyously. Logan was still alive. He was still with them. And as soon as they got him to the hospital, the doctors would-

Carlos never finished that thought. Because as the rescuers drew nearer, he took a small step forward to drag Logan out of the water and onto dry land. The muddy bottom beneath his feet caved, and then both Carlos and Logan went under.

**A/N. Would now be a bad time to mention that I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up? KJSHFKWEGWRE Review? :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N. Okie dokie. This might be the last chapter for a little while. I have loads of Spanish homework to do before Wednesday night, an exam to study for, and I'm working. So I honestly don't know when I'll be able to even start it. Just a fair warning. **

**I don't own anything.**

Carlos couldn't breathe. Water filled his nose, his mouth, and ears, even his eyes. It filled his lungs, making his chest ache. He felt the current rip Logan from his grasp as if his arms were made of paper, and he panicked. It was impossible to swim, the water had complete control of his body, but he still flailed around helplessly, searching for Logan. He had just gotten him back and there was no way he would let anyone, or anything, take him away again.

His head broke the surface, and he caught a glimpse of the swirling black rapids that surrounded him before he was dragged back under. All he could managed was one tiny gasp of air that hardly did anything for him. He wasn't going to last much longer underwater and if he lost his battle, that meant Logan had no chance. He had to fight for both of them.

A sudden blast of pain shook Carlos' whole body as he found himself being slammed into a group of rocks. Despite his shaken brain, Carlos flung out his arms, grabbing desperately for anything he might be able to hold onto. He welcomed more pain as he was flung into another rock that he somehow managed to hold onto. The rough surface scraped against his throbbing body, but he ignored it, and pulled himself upwards, out of the water.

Sputtering and choking, Carlos looked around, searching for a sign of Logan, trying not to panic when he could see no sign of his best friend. What he did see out of the corner of his eye, had him frozen to the rock. His dad, was wading steadily through the fast-moving waters, coming towards him.

"No!" The shout surprised Carlos as much as it did his father, though perhaps not for the same reason. His dad most likely had no idea what he was shouting about, but Carlos was surprised because of the way his voice sounded. Technically, it sounded the same, but there was something off about it. It sounded strangely muffled, he decided, on the left side of his head where his ear was.

Shoving that thought away, because it was irrelevant, Carlos shook his head as his dad came nearer. "Not me!" he said choking on water as a wave came up and hit him directly in the face. "Go get Logan, Dad! I'm fine, I can wait here!"

His father ignored his pleas and kept coming, eventually reaching him. It was then that Carlos started to cry because he was helpless to do anything else. "Dad, please!" he said, even as his father's arms went around him and lifted him up out of the freezing water. "Not me. Please, please save Logan."

His dad was saying something, but again, the words were muffled, and Carlos, with the left side of his head turned upwards, could hardly hear him at all. The first time it had happened, he had assumed it was because the roar of the water was so deafening that it was drowning out all other sounds. But now, here he was, being carried away from the water, and he still couldn't hear right.

"Logan!" he cried out, weakly thrashing around as his father laid him down on dry land. "Daddy, Logan-"

His father became completely still as soon as the words left Carlos' mouth, and it didn't take any level of clear thinking to know why. When was the last time anyone but his young daughters had called him that. But he was still only for an instant, and then he was gently holding Carlos down, trying to soothe his fears. "Carlos, it's okay. Luke has him."

Luke has him. Carlos froze like his father had just a few seconds ago and he started up at him, trying to see if there was any way he wasn't telling the truth. But this was his dad, the one person who never lied, even if it was the protect someone from the truth, no matter how awful. He could trust him. "Where?" he pleaded.

Instead of answering him verbally, his dad turned his head to the right, further down the shore line. Carlos followed his gaze slowly, and gasped. He could just make out a tall figure in the distance, staggering out of the water, clutching a smaller body to his chest. Carlos couldn't take his eyes off of the small, unmoving body that Luke was cradling in his arms. "D-Dad," he stammered, trying to sit up again.

"Carlos, please stay still!" his father asked, his voice full of worry. "You're hurt too." He gently grazed his hand along the left side of Carlos' head, eyes darkening in fear when his hand came away red and sticky with blood.

"Dad," Carlos tried to explain, his thoughts muddled and his words curiously slurred. "Dat's Logan's blood. 'm fine, see? I need to be wit Logan, pwease."

Their eyes met again, and even though Carlos saw that his father was clearly terrified for him, he could also see that he wasn't going to be refused. He lifted his arms, trying not to wince when the movement sent waves of pain shooting through his back. "'arry me?"

He shut his eyes so that being lifted up wouldn't make him sick. By now he had realized that there was maybe something really wrong with him, but he didn't care. All he cared about was getting to Logan and being with him and-

Without warning, his father's careful, steady footsteps faltered, and his arms tensed around Carlos. Carlos knew then, that something was really, horribly wrong. "Dad?" he whispered fearfully.

"Carlos-"

He looked. Luke was bending over Logan, _breathing_ for him. Every once in a while, he jerked away and started to press down on Logan's unmoving chest. He was giving Logan CPR.

"Logan!" Carlos shouted, practically falling to the ground as he struggling against his father's grip. "Logan, no!"

"Where are the paramedics?" Luke demanded as they reached him. His blonde hair was plastered to his forehead, a wild look of panic in his eyes and Carlos was suddenly forced to into a flashback of years ago when Luke had first come to work with the Minnesota police.

The boys had been young, maybe seven. The memory was blurry and Carlos was struggling to keep his thoughts organized, but the scene before him now was bringing back a similar scene from so long ago now.

He had slipped and fallen into the creek a few miles from his own house. Not usually serious, the waters had become swollen from rain and Carlos had been much too small to fight anyway. One minute, he was thinking how he was scared to die like Logan's mommy had, and the next, he was waking up to see Luke leaning over him like he was leaning over Logan now.

Except it wasn't working this time. Carlos could only watch as his father moved to help Logan too, taking over the breathing when Luke started to struggle. There was an ugly gash above the younger man's right eye and blood had dripped down his face, to land on Logan's already battered and bruised body. Time seemed to slow down.

He scooted as close as he could without getting in the way and took one of Logan's limp hand in both of his. Carlos was so shocked at the icy cold of Logan's skin that he almost dropped his hand, and then tightened his grip. "Logan, please!" he choked on a sob. "Please 'tay with us."

No sooner had the words left his lips, then Logan's body suddenly jerked to life. Water spilled out of his mouth as he choked and coughed. They could only be relieved for a couple of seconds, before it became very obvious that water wasn't the only thing Logan was coughing up.

"Dad?" Carlos asked, watching in horror as blood trickled down Logan's chin and onto his ruined t-shirt. "Dad, he's-"

They were interrupted by a flurry of activity. Paramedics were suddenly swarming them and above their heads, a helicopter drummed out a steady beat. Carlos lost sight of Logan as it seemed like they were all surrounded by perfect strangers trying to help them. Only Carlos didn't trust strangers with Logan.

He started to cry as he was forced to lay back down. The helicopter overhead made it impossible for him to make out the different conversations that were all around him, and this scared him even more because he didn't know what was happening with Logan.

Then his dad was next to him and Carlos could read his lips. He was telling him that everything was going to be okay. That the paramedics knew what they were doing and that they were going to help him. Carlos was fading in and out of consciousness, and he was far too distressed to say anything coherent, but the last thing he remembered was asking his dad if the paramedics were going to help Logan. And then, everything went black.

* * *

><p>When he came to, his head was hurting even worse than before. Carlos blinked against the too bright light, realizing pretty quickly that he was in the hospital. "Logan," he said, because he couldn't bother to think of anything else.<p>

"Hey, buddy." James appeared on his right. His face was pale and blotchy like it got when he cried a lot. His eyes were read and swollen with tears, and the smile he gave Carlos hardly turned the corners of his mouth up.

"James?"

James nodded, looking strangely relieved. He placed a hand on Carlos' arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Your dad will be back any minute," he whispered. "He just left with Logan's doctor because-" James faltered and tried again. "He said he wanted to be with Logan's family when they got the news."

"What news?" Carlos demanded, alarmed.

"On how he is," James quickly assured him. "Your dad wanted to help as much as possible, but he didn't want to leave you alone, so I stayed."

"Thanks, James." Carlos gave his older friend a tiny smile and then, looking around, asked, "Where-"

"Your mom is at home with your sisters. She knew that you were going to be. . . okay-ish, and she didn't want to scare them right away. They'll be here soon now that you're awake. My parents are right outside if we need anything."

Carlos nodded slowly. "What else do you know?"

James seemed to wilt a little. "Um, Luke is getting stitches in his head, but he'll be okay. And you're going to need to take it easy because you're really bruised and scraped up, and you have a pretty bad concussion and. . ." he stopped altogether, choking on the rest of his words, and looked away from Carlos. "They were worried you might have some memory loss, but you seem okay to me."

"I am," Carlos supplied, feeling like there was something James wasn't telling him. He could also tell that something was off, but he somehow knew it wasn't about Logan, so again, he didn't really care. "James, do you know anything about Logan?"

"No," James choked out. "I don't. Kendall and Katie and Mama Knight were waiting in the ER and your dad just went to be with them. I guess when he comes back, he'll-" James broke off again and shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know."

"Okay," He could at least still sense that James was close to the breaking point, and pushing him for more information would only shatter him. So Carlos let it drop. They were both in the dark and he found that somewhat comforting.

"Carlos," James said unexpectedly. "Your dad told us that when you called him. . . they were somewhere else where Logan's car had been found abandoned. . . Why were you by the river and how did you know how to go there?"

Carlos had always been able to tell his best friends absolutely anything, but this time he was stuck. How was he supposed to tell them that he had heard Logan's voice and-

He didn't need to worry for too long, because the door opened and his dad walked in. James had clearly forgotten he had even brought the subject up and the two boys spoke at the same time. "Is Logan okay?"

"He's alive" Mr. Garcia said, kind enough to give them the good news first. "They managed to stabilize him for now."

"Okay," James said, sounding like he did when he was trying to keep from coming undone. "That's good, right?"

Mr. Garcia nodded, but the relief Carlos felt died instantly when his dad didn't smile at all. "How bad is he?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Carlos-"

"I need to know, Dad." Carlos said stubbornly. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

With a sigh, Mr. Garcia began to speak in slow, halting whispers, telling them everything. "They're keeping a very close eye on him and his family is with him right now. But. . . he has a severe case of hypothermia. It looks like one of his attackers returned and dragged him to the river, hoping to get rid of any possible evidence. Fortunately, he or she didn't bother to make sure he was really gone, and he was only partially submerged in the water. But he was in the water for at least several hours, and before that, a cold sewage drain. So, he's a very sick boy right now."

"He also has a very bad concussion, four broken ribs, and a punctured lung as well as a sprained wrist and broken ankle. He lost a great deal of blood. With all of this. . ." Mr. Garcia paused, searching for a delicate way to tell them the worst part. "He's in a coma right now, and the doctors are worried about an infection and brain damage."

And then, "He's stable." It was like the two words were a lifeline to all of them. Their word was falling apart, being held together by these two words.

"I need to see him," Carlos insisted.

For a split second, it looked like his dad was going to protest and say that he wasn't strong enough. But he closed his mouth and nodded. Then stood up and said, "You can go, but I'm getting a wheelchair for you." He glanced at James, apparently asking him a question, which James answered with a shake of his head, and then he turned and left the room.

He didn't need a stupid chair, but Carlos knew that protesting would only delay him in going to see Logan. He also wanted to ask James about the silent conversation he had just had with his father, but he was worried that this might also stop him from getting what he needed. Not wanted, needed. He needed to see Logan. So, he was completely silent as he waited.

Five minutes later, his dad returned with the unnecessary, but necessary wheelchair, and Carlos let himself be helped into it. He could only manage a returning nod to the doctor whose name escaped him.

"I want to warn you that Logan is very badly injured," the doctor said as they walked slowly down the hallway. "I just want you all to be prepared, because he doesn't-"

"He doesn't look very good, does he?" Carlos finished for him. "Yeah. We figured that after getting beat and then left for dead, _then_ almost drowning, he wouldn't look too good. Thanks for that brilliant assessment." He couldn't imagine Logan looking any worse than he had earlier that day, so he was almost sure that he was already prepared.

He was wrong. As soon as they walked through the door to Logan's hospital room, Carlos felt as if the last little remnants of hope had been stolen away. And Logan wasn't even the first one he saw. First he saw Katie, hiding her face in her mother's arms as she sobbed inconsolably. Then he saw Mrs. Knight, holding onto Katie with one arm, while the other rested on the bed, her hand holding Logan's.

Sitting in the corner of the room, trying now to intrude, was Luke, one of his eyes swollen and purple, visible underneath the stitches there. Standing behind him, her hands on his shoulders, was his girlfriend, Lauren, looking uncomfortable to be there, but unwilling to leave his side.

Kendall was on the other side of Logan's bed. He was the only one who didn't look up when Carlos and the others walked in. As far as Carlos could tell, he wasn't even aware of anyone else. He stared fixedly at Logan, his face full of so many emotions that it frightened Carlos.

Logan looked like he was sleeping, except that there was a bandage wrapped around his head, and bruises all over his face. His jaw was swollen from the beating it had received and the wires that were holding it together. One of his wrists had a small cast on it, and under the sheets, Carlos noticed the bulk of another cast on his ankle. He knew that there were probably countless other injuries, but he didn't want to think about them.

"Logie," Carlos said softly as James pushed him forwards, next to Kendall. "Hey, buddy. Wanna wake up for us?"

"Carlos, sweetie." Mrs. Knight and Katie came over to him and hugged him. Then, his best friend's mother whispered in his right ear. "Thank you for bringing him back to us."

Carlos realized several things all at once. The first was that Mrs. Knight had very pointedly whispered in his _right_ ear and that he still couldn't hear right. He remembered James telling him everything and then stopping. He remembered the silent conversation James had had with his dad. It was then that he reached up and felt the left side of his head and was startled when his fingers grazed a bandaged that felt very flat underneath. And somehow, he couldn't bring himself to care that his ear appeared to be gone and he was completely deaf there.

The other things he realized were much more important. Mrs. Knight thanking him for bringing Logan back when he was still so close to the edge. Luke and Lauren watching quietly in the background. James starting to cry and Kendall not moving to comfort him. Kendall. Kendall not doing anything but staring at Logan.

Usually Kendall was the voice of reason. He always spoke up, his determination and confidence contagious. He had always been the one to tell everyone that things were going to be okay. Now he was silent. His face was pale and he was _crying_. Kendall was crying and not telling them that Logan would be fine. If Kendall wasn't telling them what they all wanted and needed to hear, then what did that mean?

**A/N. I hope you guys have a wonderful week, okay? I love you!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N. Sorry for the wait, everyone! I'm already working on chapter seven, so hopefully it won't be that long of a wait. :) I don't own anything!**

Carlos wondered how long it would take before they all just went insane. All the waiting they had been doing was definitely taking a toll on them. First, they had waited to find out where Logan was, and now, they were waiting to find out if he would be okay. Carlos had always hated waiting, but this took it to an extreme level.

Five days had passed, and while he had been released from the hospital with strict instructions to take it easy, nothing had changed where Logan was concerned. Some of his bruises were fading to a yellow as they slowly began to heal, and the doctors claimed that his body was mending quite nicely, but Carlos didn't see how that could be true. All he knew was that Logan was still unconscious, and hanging onto a delicate thread of life that might snap at any moment. He still needed help breathing and he had yet to respond to their constant pleas. For all anyone knew, he could be completely oblivious to them. The doctors had told them from the start to never give up hope and to always talk to Logan. He was in a coma, but the doctors had all told stories of coma patients and how family and friends helped bring them back by talking to them. This hope was reinforced several times a day, but each time it came back, it was weaker.

Carlos glanced over at Kendall who sat across from him on the other side of Logan's bed. He was slumped over in his chair, passed out from the utter exhaustion of hardly sleeping for almost a week now. As far away as Carlos was from him, he could still easily make out the dark circles underneath his eyes. If he wasn't so scared for Logan, Kendall would be scaring him right now too.

And James. James wasn't speaking. He had hardly said anything since Carlos first woke up in the hospital. He only watched and listened, his hazel eyes huge with fear like he was sure someone was going to say any minute that they were going to lose Logan. He was teetering on the brink of insanity, just like the rest of them.

He glanced at Carlos now, as if sensing the other boy's stare. He opened his mouth to speak in a hoarse, faltering whisper that was all he could manage. At least he wouldn't wake Kendall up. But Carlos couldn't hear him. He shook his head and turned his head so that his good ear, or rather, the one ear he had left, was facing James. "What?" he whispered back. James paled visibly and shrunk back a little before he could stop , he was apologetic and wrapping his arm over Carlos' shoulders as if hoping to make up for his gut reaction.

"It's okay," Carlos said, because it really was. Part of him didn't care because he couldn't blame James for recoiling when he saw the bandage on the left side of his head where his ear used to be. And the other part of him didn't care because, well, it was just an ear.

James was still staring at him, distracted for the moment from Logan's uncertain fate. "Does it hurt?" he asked in a low voice that was just loud enough for Carlos to hear and understand.

"Not really," Carlos said honestly, wondering if that was normal. One would think that losing an ear was extremely painful or at least emotionally traumatic. Maybe it was because he was pretty numb over the whole affair. He was still in shock over what was happening to Logan. To them.

"What's it like?" James wondered, clearly begging for the distraction to be prolonged. Carlos gladly obliged because he was pretty sure that it was helping him too.

"I haven't really thought about it," he admitted. "I saw it without the bandage and it was pretty weird and gross. And it's weird not being able to hear as well. I keep forgetting, actually."

"I think we all keep forgetting about you." James said mournfully. "I'm really sorry, Carlitos."

Carlos shook his head quickly, ignoring the tiny waves of dizziness that washed over him. He had been released from the hospital, but he was still being watched closely thanks to his concussion. "It's fine, James." he said quietly. "I'm okay."

"Yeah, but-" James dropped talking and looked across the bed to where Kendall was stirring.

He greeted their friend with a very forced, very weak smile and said, "Hey, Kendall."

"Hey," Kendall mumbled, looking around the room with a bleary-eyed expression on his face. He glanced at Logan and then at the other boys. "No change." he said flatly.

"No."

"We would have woken you up." Carlos told him. He watched Kendall nervously. "You really should be getting more rest, Kendall."

Kendall yawned and rubbed at his eyes until they became red and irritated. "I'll sleep when Logan comes home." he said, his voice slightly muffled by his hands. "Where is everyone?"

Instantly, Carlos tensed and looked at James. "My parents took Katie home with them," he said, trying to stay calm. "It's getting late, and-"

"Really?" Kendall interrupted in surprise. He glanced at his cell phone and shook his head. "It's almost ten," he said, sounding like he was talking to himself. Then he looked back up. "So where's my mom?"

Carlos bit his bottom lip and looked away. He heard James sigh next to him and he braced himself for what was coming.

"She's speaking with one of the doctors," James said, not looking at Kendall.

Carlos looked up in time to see every inch of Kendall tense. "What?" he asked, his voice low and verging on angry. "Why?"

It was extraordinarily hard to breathe and Carlos found himself wishing that he was missing both of his ears. Hearing it made it much worse. He had to grip the edge of his chair with both hands to keep from covering up his ear.

"James?" James still hadn't answered Kendall. He still wasn't looking at him. Instead, he was picking at a hangnail and inspecting it like it was the most fascinating thing on earth and the only thing that was keeping him from falling apart.

"James. Carlos." Kendall's voice was a command that only he could issue: Harsh and gentle all at the same time. There was also a hint of a plea.

"He- um, that one doctor-" Carlos waved a hand around, gesturing aimlessly.

"Doctor Rodgers?" Kendall had gotten even stiffer. He was absolutely rigid in his chair. He had never liked Doctor Rodgers very much. "What did he want?"

There were a million other places Carlos would rather be right now, preferably with all three of his best friends. There were a million other things he'd rather be saying, preferably to Logan because that meant he would be okay.

"What is it?" Kendall pressed weakly.

Before James or Carlos could answer, the door opened and Mrs. Knight walked in followed closely by Doctor Rodgers. "Take your time, Mrs. Knight. Let me know when-"

"Thank you, Doctor." Mrs. Knight interrupted, moving past him to sit with Kendall. "I'd appreciate it if you left us alone now."

Doctor Rodgers looked like he was going to say something else, but then he stopped himself and simply nodded. He gave Logan's motionless figure one last doubtful look and then he left the room.

Kendall rounded on his mother. "What did he want?" he demanded.

Her face was pale and wet with tears. She flinched at Kendall's words and reached out to him, whispering, "Kendall, sweetie."

But Kendall jerked away because he had read the pain in her eyes. Dread filled his whole face and he shook his head. "No," he choked out in disbelief. "Mom, no."

"Kendall, listen to me-" she tried to plead.

"No!" Kendall shouted, making all of them jump because he had never shouted at his mother before. "Mom, you can't! You can't give up on him! I won't let you!"

"Kendall, let her finish!" Carlos suddenly shouted back. He was shaking all over, terrified by what he was witnessing. He looked down at Logan, whose face was as blank as ever, and wanted to shake him until he woke up and fixed his family before it fell completely apart.

Kendall took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting. He dropped that position instantly and shaking, took up Logan's hand in his and held it tightly. "Please," he whispered as one tear escaped the dam and ran down his cheek.

"Kendall," his mother murmured.

At the same time, Carlos and James stood up to leave and give the small family this time together. Carlos felt shakier than he usually did while recovering from his injuries and he leaned on James as they made their way out into the hall. Once they were alone, James' legs gave out from underneath him and they both went down.

James rested his head on his knees and started whispering over and over again, "Please no, please no, please no.". His teeth were clanking hard together like he had been standing out in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard and was freezing to death. His hands reached up to his head and started to tug frantically at his hair. "Carlos. . ." he gasped out.

Carlos couldn't answer. He was too busy trying to fight back the waves of panic that were drowning him. He could do nothing, but sit and wait, imagining every single possible thing Kendall and his mom could be saying right now. He knew what they were talking about. But what exactly were they saying? The lack of knowing was driving him insane. He couldn't stand not knowing what was going to happen to Logan. he turned to press his ear to the door, straining to listen, but all he could hear was the faint noise of the oxygen machine that Logan was hooked up to. No quiet murmur of voices, no crying, nothing. The lack of crying was a good thing, right?

Fortunately, it wasn't long before the door opened and Kendall stood over them. "You guys can come back in to say goodnight if you want." he said in a hollow tone.

Carlos scrambled to his feet and hurried inside. Kendall's face was impossible to read, but Mrs. Knight wasn't in tears. He had to assume that this was all good. "Logan," he said softly as he approached the bed. "Hey, buddy."

James was staring at Logan too. "Well?" he whispered. Carlos flinched and looked up. The expression on James' face told him that he was trying hard not to cry. "James-" he started to say, not wanting his friend to lose control.

"I need to know," James choked out. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and added, "Please. Will he- will he be here tomorrow?"

"James, of course." Mrs. Knight said quickly, one hand covering her mouth. She recovered from her shock and went on to say, "I assume you both know what we were talking about."

Carlos glanced over at Kendall who sat slumped in his seat, arms locked across his chest and eyes on Logan. He looked back at Mrs. Knight and nodded.

Mrs. Knight took a deep breath and picked up Logan's limp hand. She held it close and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Doctor Rodgers brought it up for the first time tonight. But I promise you that it's not a consideration right now. We're not giving up on him."

There was more, Carlos knew. "What did Doctor Rodgers say?" he asked, immediately wishing he could grab the words back as soon as they left his lips. "I mean, I know what he said, I guess. But why did he say it?"

Drying her eyes with an already ragged tissue, Mrs. Knight didn't remove her eyes from Logan as she spoke to James and Carlos. "He said that while most of Logan's injuries are looking better sooner than he expected, he's concerned about the lack of. . . brain activity."

Somewhere, somehow, her words made sense, Carlos knew. But all he could do was stare at her, his mind scrambling for a reason. "Brain activity." he repeated, sounding confused even to himself.

Mrs. Knight nodded. "Yes," she said with a sigh. "He, um, he hasn't showed any improvement in regard to regaining consciousness. He has yet to respond to any of us, and-" she broke off and swallowed hard. "Doctor Rodgers told me that the latest brain scan showed. . . more swelling than the last."

Carlos was still sitting in his chair, but he had to actually look down to make sure there was a solid surface beneath him. He felt sure that he was falling and falling through an endless blackness. He couldn't breathe properly and the dizziness had nothing to do with the aftereffects of his concussion.

"So he's actually getting worse then," James remarked dully. "I mean, what does it matter than his ribs are healing if-" He stopped abruptly and then stood up. He glanced at Logan and opened his mouth as if to say something, but all that came out was a strangled sob. Clamping a hand over his mouth, James turned and fled the room.

"I need to go with him," Carlos whispered. "His dad is picking us up tonight." He rose slowly and unsteadily, shaking off Mrs. Knight's helping hands. "I'm fine," he insisted even though he obviously wasn't. "James won't be far." This at least was true. He knew that the farthest James would make it before breaking down was just around the corner. "You'll call us, right?" He asked the same thing before he left every night. It was the phone call he never wanted to get, but he had to make sure anyway.

Kendall suddenly rose from his seat and stepped forward to wrap his arms tightly around Carlos. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry for everything, Carlos. For not looking after you. For forgetting about you. For letting this happen in the first place. I'm so sorry."

"K-Kendall," Carlos said shakily. "Don't apologize, please. It's not your fault."

"I know," Kendall said unconvincingly. He'd blame himself no matter what happened. "But it was my fault for not looking after you more."

"You're worried about Logan." Carlos pointed out. "I understand, Kendall, I really do. We're all the same."

There was so much pain in Kendall's eyes. "But we wouldn't even have him back if it wasn't for you. You risked your life, and now you're hurt too. And these past five days I've hardly spoken to you."

"Kendall-" Carlos tried again.

It was clear that Kendall wasn't going to give in. "It matters to me." he said softly. "You matter."

Carlos nodded and let Kendall hug him again. "We'll be back in the morning," he promised as Mrs. Knight hugged him too.

For a second, Kendall looked like he was going to smile. It was only like that for a second though, and then he was serious again. "See you tomorrow then."

Carlos nodded and looked one more time at Logan. "See you tomorrow, Logie." he whispered. "Wake up soon, okay? We miss you." Logan, unsurprisingly, didn't answer him.

He found James right where he expected to, just around the corner. He was shaking a little as he got up from the floor and wiped his mouth with his shirtsleeve. "I threw up," he rasped when Carlos looked twice at his ghostly complexion. "In the bathroom."

Carlos followed his nod to where there was indeed a bathroom. "Are- are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

James snorted with laughter, but the sound had no humor in it. "No."

"Me neither."

James sniffed. "Come on," he said, putting an arm around Carlos' shoulders and leading him slowly down the hall. "Let's go."

Carlos was afraid to leave. He was terrified of coming back and finding out that Logan was worse. Especially now since things really were getting worse. But he followed James all the same, out of the hospital and into the fresh night air.

James' dad was already waiting for them and when he saw the broken expressions on their faces, he didn't press for information. Instead, he reached back to where both of the boys were sitting and patted James' knee encouragingly. "He'll be okay. He's a fighter."

Carlos rested his head on the window and watched the dark night fly by. It was especially dark because there was a new moon out, and everything was pretty much black. _The darkest hour is just before the dawn_. He couldn't remember where he had first heard that saying, but for the first time ever in his life, he knew what it meant. He could only close his eyes and pray that tonight was the darkest hour and that tomorrow, the dawn would come at last.

Then Carlos heard a small noise to his left, and he looked away from the window. James was crying quietly again, rubbing at eyes that were already swollen and red. "James?" he asked.

James turned to look at him, his eyes full of a new fear. "I didn't say goodbye to Logan tonight."

**A/N. Dear Courtney, that smidgen of Jamesangst was just for you. I love all of you guys and I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N. I found a pretty sweet way to write/update quicker, so hopefully I'll be able to get on a sort of schedule with this story and my other stories. Thanks so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, it means more than I could ever say to have your support. Here's chapter seven, which is dedicated to Baxxie because she loves Carlos and angst and Carlosangst. Some day I will beat up on Carlos a little for you, but quite honestly, he is the one I have the most trouble hurting. He's just too adorable! In the meantime, emotional angst is pretty easy, so I hope you like this! I don't own anything,**

When Carlos walked into Logan's hospital room the next morning, the first thing he noticed was the pamphlets about organ donation stuffed inside the plastic trash can. He swallowed back a wave of nausea and tried to keep his face blank. "Hi," he whispered, his voice cracking.

Kendall noticed right away. "It was Doctor Rodgers, Carlos." he said firmly. "We didn't even look at them, I promise."

Carlos nodded, the lump in his throat too big to speak at first. He took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes with a shaking hand. "So-" he began.

"No change," Kendall interrupted. "No change for the better, but no change for the worse either."

Katie who had come with Carlos, smiled in appreciation at the stretch for optimism. She walked up to Logan's side and kissed him gently on the forehead. "Hey, big brother." she whispered. "It'd be great if you could wake up for us now." She took his hand and waited.

Carlos waited too. He went back and forth between studying Logan and Katie intently, searching both of their faces for a reaction. Logan's face was blank and Katie's was hopefully. They both stayed that way. Carlos had to envy Katie for her ten-year-old innocence that held tightly to the belief that Logan would eventually wake up.

"Where's James?" Kendall asked after a short silence that was too uncomfortable for all of them.

"Home," Carlos mumbled in answer. "Sick."

Concern clouded Mrs. Knight's already tired features. "Is he okay?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. "He'll be fine in a couple of days," he said, repeating what Mrs. Diamond had told him just an hour ago. "He has that stomach thing that's been going around." He recalled how James had thrown up the night before.

"Poor James." Katie murmured half-heartedly. Carlos couldn't blame her. The stomach virus would last no longer than twenty-four hours plus a day it two to recover from being so sick. Today marked the sixth day of Logan's coma.

"He's really upset that he can't be here." Carlos added, feeling a little sorry for James. He remembered how awful he had looked the night before, especially when he realized that he had left without saying goodbye to Logan. Carlos couldn't imagine how he was feeling now. "So," he said, making an effort to lighten the atmosphere. He paused, struggling to go on. "So, Logan," Why couldn't he just wake up? "Are you having the best dream ever or what?"

Katie and Mrs. Knight and Kendall all gave him strange looks, but Carlos ignored them. He was tired of talking to Logan jut to beg him to wake up. He was ready for a new strategy. "I had a dream a couple weeks ago," he went on. "It was the best dream I had ever had. Everything was really beautiful and good. There were even all the corn dogs you could eat! And I was so so so happy, Logan." Carlos' left leg was bouncing up and down by itself even when he tried to steady it. "Then I realized that even though it was really cool and it felt like I had everything I wanted, it wasn't real. The happiness wasn't real. I couldn't figure it out at first, and then I knew."

No one else was even trying to speak. They were all listening intently to every word he had to say. Carlos prayed that Logan was listening too. "I wasn't really happy because I didn't have you guys. I didn't have you or James or Kendall or any of our families. I was all by myself." He was crying. Carlos slowly became aware of the tears that were steadily making their way down his face. He heard someone sniff behind him, but he couldn't tell who it was and he didn't turn around to find out. He kept his eyes locked on Logan. "And then it sucked, Logie. It sucked big time because I was all alone. Everything I once thought had made me happy. . . it didn't do anything for me, not really. I was so lonely." Carlos brushed away the falling tears. "Please, Logan!" he begged. "I don't care if you're having a millionaire doctor dream. I don't care how happy you are right now, it's not going to last! You're going to get bored and lonely. You have to snap out of it and wake up before that actually happens, Logan!"

"Carlos," Mrs. Knight said gently. She reached out slowly for him. "Sweetie, take a deep breath and calm down a little."

It was too late though. Carlos was on the very edge, his sanity slipping away like water through his hands. He was exhausted and frustrated and scared and- and angry. He yanked away from Mrs. Knight. "What was he thinking?" he demanded as the years continued to come relentlessly. "Why was he all by himself and why was he late and why wasn't his cell phone. . . charged."

"Carlos?"

Kendall was watching him more intently than he had been all week long. But Carlos hardly heard him. Everything came rushing back. Hearing Logan and following him to where his body had been dumped. Listening to everything Logan had told him and trying to process the impossible. If it had worked before, why not again? Carlos shut his eyes so tightly that he saw little black dot. "Logan," he whispered. "Are you there? Can you hear me?" He could tell that he was scaring everyone. One minute he had been rambling about his dream, and now here he was, falling apart, talking to Logan in a way no one else had tried yet. "Logan." he tried again. "Where. . . are you?"

There was a disconnect that had Carlos very shaken. It wasn't working. His last hope and last resort. . . it wasn't working. Nothing was working.

"Carlos, what are you doing?"

He looked up to find everyone still staring in disbelief. Immediately, he tried to think of how he could explain himself. But why would they believe anything he had to say? Especially when they were still concerned about his concussion. Carlos had a sinking feeling that if he told them the truth, it would only result in more negativity. He needed Logan here and conscious so he could back him up. Would Logan remember? That thought hadn't crossed Carlos' mind until now. It brought him up short and before he knew it, he was wondering if everything had really happened. Had he really heard Logan? Or had he just stumbled upon him like everyone apparently thought? What was the truth? Carlos wasn't sure of anything anymore.

"Carlos, are you okay?" Mrs. Knight sounded very worried about him, but Carlos still couldn't answer right away. He opened his mouth and tried to form words, but nothing came out. It was like he was losing function of all his body. First his brain, now his mouth, What was next?

"Carlos, answer me, please!"

Kendall's voice, laced with fear, was what snapped Carlos out of his thoughts. He looked up at everyone and felt a rush of guilt flood him when he saw how frightened they all were. They were frightened for him. "I'm okay," he choked out. "Sorry."

The tension that had been rising in Kendall, was suddenly drained away and he slumped back down in his chair. "What-" he began, obviously having trouble coming up with the correct question. "Why-"

"I was just thinking," Carlos rushed to explain. "I was thinking of another way to try and talk to Logan. I was thinking of something else I could say to him because nothing else has been working. I'm sorry I scared all of you."

Kendall looked like he wanted to ask another question, but ultimately, he decided against it. "Don't do that again," he begged quietly. "You scared me. You scared all of us. We thought that- I mean, I thought that something was really wrong with you."

Carlos felt terrible. He only had to look at Mrs. Knight and Katie to know that they had felt the same way as Kendall. They didn't need something else to go wrong right now. They needed something to go right. Before he could apologize again, the door opened and Luke walked in. Carlos still found in strange to see his dad's best officer dressed in plain ever day clothes. Even when he came over for dinner, it would usually be straight from the station and he'd be in his uniform. In a plain t-shirt and jeans, he didn't look as nearly intimidating and powerful, and for some childish reason, this upset Carlos. He wanted, needed, all the strength they could get.

"Any change?" Luke asked, even though all he needed to do was look at them for his answer.

"None since yesterday," Mrs. Knight answered quietly. She saw the questioning look in Luke's eyes and forced herself to explain. "They've been doing brain scans every day. . . just to monitor him. They're concerned about the lack of activity. And yesterday- Yesterday, there even more swelling than before."

Carlos watched Luke carefully for his reaction. He flinched when he saw the color drain from his face. He remembered his dad having the same reaction last night when he told him after he got home from the hospital. All the bravest of people were scared over what was happening and that scared Carlos even more. He felt Luke's hand on his shoulder and heard him speak in a tone that had forced steadiness in it. "Where's James?"

He was changing the subject, thank goodness. Carlos relaxed. He could handle this conversation. "He's home sick." Luke nodded and sat down next to Carlos. So much for that conversation. Carlos couldn't decide what was worse, the complete silence, talking to Logan and receiving no response, or taking about Logan's grave condition. Unfortunately, those seemed to be the only ones that lasted.

"My dad will be coming by in a little while and probably James' dad too." Carlos said after the silence stretched out too long. He sighed when the only answer he received were silent nods from everyone in the room.

Katie was

lightly tracing her finger down Logan's arm, staring at him intently. "He's ticklish, remember?" she asked them. "I was thinking that maybe we could wake him up this way." Carlos had to stifle the urge to tell Katie that Logan was the most ticklish near his rib cage. For one thing, she already knew, for another, his ribs were still to fragile. So he was silent along with everyone else as they watched Katie try to tickle Logan into waking up.

"It's hard to do when he's so hurt," she said, sighing in frustration. "I don't know what else to do though." Desperate, she very gently brushed Logan's side, waiting for an acknowledgment of either pain or even a small tickle.

Carlos wondered how aware Logan was. Could he hear them? Could he feel anything? Was he trying to wake up or to at least respond to them? Was he scared or frustrated? What was he thinking? Was he thinking at all? Carlos gasped as that last horrible though crossed through his mind. When the others glances at him, he simply shook his head. They let him go, too weary to press the matter.

"Logan, we really need you to wake up, bro." Kendall said softly, his voice a calm influence on Carlos' shattered nerves. "We're worried about you and we miss you. We miss you so much, Logan."

"We do." Carlos added because they had all run out of anything new to say. "We miss talking to you and having you talk back. We miss hanging out with you and doing everything with you. It's almost like that time when we were ten and you went on that business trip to Florida with your dad. We didn't see you for a week and a half and it was so boring without you. This is a lot worse though."

"We need you, Logan." Kendall sighed. "More than you could possibly know. I have no idea what we're suppose to do if-" The tears were starting up again. "If we lose you."

Carlos didn't understand. For the past six days now, they had sat by Logan's bedside all in tears, begging him to wake up or to at least give them some sign that he could hear them. If he was aware of them at all, then surely he must have found some way to tell them this. So why were things this way? Was it because he really wasn't aware of them at all? Carlos wanted to scream at Logan and shake him mercilessly until he woke. He was so mad at him for being so stupid and careless in the first place. He was mad at him for driving to the college all by himself. He was mad at him for getting a flat tire and running late and letting his cell phone die. He was furious at him for stopping to help the men who had hurt him. And most of all, Carlos was furious at himself for being mad at his best friend who was maybe dying.

"I'm going to go take a walk," he said quietly. "I won't go far, don't worry. I just- I need to be alone for a little while." Reluctantly, they let him go. Carlos breathed a small sigh of relief when he closed the door behind him. He wanted to be with Logan, he really did. But the atmosphere was far too tense and heavy for him to handle for very long. If he didn't get out to be by himself, then he was sure he would explode.

He walked quietly down the halls of the ICU. He remembered when they were twelve and how Logan had told him that ICU stood for Intensive Care Unit. It seemed like such a long time ago now. Another lifetime ago when they were all happy and healthy and safe. He was so stuck in the present that those memories had already faded away to an alarming degree.

Carlos hadn't gone very far when the tears started up yet again. As he rounded a corner, he reached up to stubbornly brush the persistent tears away, and promptly ran into someone. Whoever it was, they were considerably larger and stronger and in a better frame of mind than Carlos, because though the force of the collision was enough to knock him off his feet, he felt someone grab his arm and hold him steady. "T-thanks-" he started to stammer out.

"Carlos? What's wrong, son?"

And just like that, Carlos found himself crying hard into his father's chest. He had cried plenty of times in the past week, but this attack was by far the worst. His legs went out from under him and he was suddenly sitting on the floor and letting his father hold him and whisper words of comfort to him like he was six instead of sixteen.

"Carlos?"

His tears were scaring his dad, Carlos could tell. He tried valiantly to slow down and breathe enough so he could tell his dad that Logan was still with them, but it was of no use. He was far past the point of regaining his control anytime soon. So he cried. He cried hard and long, completely ignorant to the dozens of doctors and nurses that stopped by to see if everything was okay. Everything he had managed to hold in for six days had finally risen to the surface and he had no hope of suppressing it. He let himself cry.

Eventually, he did run dry of tears, at least for the time being. He knew there would be more to come later now, but at the moment, Carlos just felt completely drained. He laid limp in his father's arms, listening to the endless words of comfort.

"I'm mad at Logan," he heard himself say. His father didn't really say anything. He simply hummed in acknowledgement and continued to rub Carlos' back in a steady motion. "I'm mad at Logan," Carlos repeated, louder this time. "How could he have been so stupid? What was he thinking?"

His father stopped rubbing his back then and pulled away to look carefully at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Carlos poured out the whole story. Everything. He didn't care how strange it sounded, he couldn't stop if he tried. He watched as shock and disbelief filled his dad's eyes, but he continued as if he was completely blind instead of half deaf. And he ended with, "If you don't believe me, then that's your choice. I don't understand how or why it happened, but I do know that Logan probably wouldn't be alive if it didn't happen. Until Logan wakes up and helps me explain, that's all I can tell you right now. It's the truth though, really." Complete silence. Carlos sighed and let his head fall back to rest against the wall. He was too tired to argue. "I don't care if you don't believe me." he said, trying to sound final about it.

His dad brought him close again and whispered in his good ear. "I believe you, Carlos. Every single word. I promise."

Carlos stared up at him, searching for hesitation in his eyes and finding none. "You believe me," he whispered. "How?"

"I don't know," his dad admitted with a helpless shrug. "But I do."

It felt like Carlos could almost breathe again. The weight on his shoulders was considerably lighter now that his secret was out. "I'm scared," he said, resting his head on his dad's shoulder. "I tried to do it again. I tried to find Logan again and talk to him. I wanted to tell him to come back. But- but I couldn't find him, Dad."

"Shhhh," his dad started rubbing his back again. "I don't know, Carlos. I don't know what happened to you two, or why it happened. And I don't know what's going to happen to us now. Maybe you will find Logan. Maybe you just need to give him some time."

"Time?" Carlos repeated, his voice cracking. "Dad, Doctor Rodgers was in there last night talking about taking Logan off the oxygen machine. He was telling Mrs. Knight that the swelling in Logan's brain is getting worse. And today Doctor Rodgers gave them pamphlets about organ donation. Time? I don't know, Dad. We have all the time in the world, but I don't think Logan has much time left at all."

**A/N. I won't be back until after Sunday, so Happy Easter, guys! Love you all!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N. Hey, guys! I hope you all had a lovely Easter, or Sunday! I did! Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter eight! Apologies for- well, you'll see. I don't own anything!**

Nineteen days, fourteen hours, twenty-six minutes, twelve seconds and counting. Carlos stared at the clock on the wall and sighed. Nearly three weeks had passed since they had found Logan and he still had showed no sign of regaining consciousness. In fact, he seemed to be getting worse. Kendall had told Carlos and James just yesterday that Doctor Rodgers had talked to them again. He had told them that if the swelling in Logan's brain got any worse, he's have to go into surgery. The doctors would remove a piece of his skull to relieve pressure on his brain and hopefully lessen the swelling. Then he'd be put into a medically induced coma while he healed. Of course, the doctor had also reminded them, there was a slim chance that the surgery would work or that Logan would even survive it. Perhaps, he had suggested, they might need to start seriously considering organ donation.

Carlos still couldn't believe this was happening. Every morning he woke up and for about three seconds, would be completely oblivious to the nightmare that awaited him. When it all came crashing down on him, it took all of his strength to get up out of his bed and go to the hospital where he knew nothing had changed. They were losing Logan. Everyone knew it. The days they spent in his hospital room were growing quieter, the atmosphere heavier. They were becoming more drained as time crept by and Logan grew worse or remained the same. Everything hurt.

Carlos tried everything he could think of. He stared at Logan, willing him to wake up. He closed his eyes and tries to find Logan again to speak to him. He talked to him about everything from hockey to "please just wake up.". He cried, he yelled, and then he cried again as he apologized to Logan. And then he sat in the corner of the room with his head in his hands, trying to pretend the nightmare didn't exist. It was that way with everyone, and Carlos knew that it was only a matter of time before they started to fall, one by one, like dominoes. All it would take was one more thing to go wrong, one little push, and there would be no more hope for them. And Carlos was certain that Doctor Rodgers would be the man to deliver the first and final blow.

He looked around, feeling a sense of unease settle around him when he realized that everyone was there. Mrs. Knight sitting between Katie and Kendall on one side of Logan's bed, James sitting next to him on the other side, and James' parents, his whole family, and Luke and Lauren were all there. It was like they like all gathered to say goodbye. A shiver ran through Carlos and he struggled to shake free from that thought.

"What do you think he's thinking?" asked Katie in a soft whisper. When her question was met with only silence, she looked up at them defiantly. "He can hear us," she insisted, giving Logan's hand a gentle squeeze. "And he's probably scared because we're talking to him and he can't talk back. And all that moronic Doctor Rodgers ever talks about is giving a perfect stranger his lungs and kidneys and-" katie's voice broke, but she had no tears left to cry. "Logan's heart is too big for anyone to deserve."

Katie was right. Carlos didn't care about giving someone else a second chance. He didn't want someone else. He wanted Logan. And if Logan was the only one who deserved his heart, then surely that meant he would get to keep it and they would get to keep him. So what was all this waiting for?

"He probably is scared," Lauren said softly. The sound of her voice caught Carlos off guard. She had only been dating Luke for a few months now and though she was the polar opposite of Luke's bold, out-going personality, Carlos really liked her. It was obvious that Luke loves her and that she makes him happy. She didn't speak much, clearly feeling like she was already intruding. But Luke is family, so as far as Carlos concerned, she is too. He looked at her, not used to hearing her speak, and they both blushed and looked down. She continued to talk though, and as usual, it was something that made Carlos feel better if only for a little while. "Maybe he just needs us to keep talking to him and encouraging him." she said, lifting her gaze to look at Logan. "That's what I would want someone to do for me."

Carlos liked how she said us. It meant that after all this time, she was finally beginning to feel comfortable with all of them and like she belonged. Plus, there was safety in numbers and that meant Logan had a better chance. That's what it meant to Carlos anyway. Lauren leaned forward and lightly touched Logan's hand. "Hi, sweetie." she said softly. "I don't know you as well as I'd like to, but I do know that you're a very special person to everyone in this room. And I know you're probably scared and confused and tired, but you have to keep fighting, okay? Keep fighting to wake up, Logan."

Luke tightened his arm around her shoulders and brought her close to him. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Logan. Except, I might have told you to stop lazing around and-"

Carlos sat up so fast that his elbow knocked the glass of water right off the nearby table. It fell to the ground, spraying glass and water everywhere. No one noticed.

"He smiled," Kendall whispered. "I saw it, I know I did!" He lunched forward and grabbed Logan's hand. "Logan. Logan, can you hear me, bro? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me." Nobody answered Kendall. They didn't move or speak. They only stared at Logan's limp fingers in Kendall's hands, waiting for them to suddenly come to life. But they didn't. Instead, something even better, more improbable happened. Logan opened his eyes.

Carlos couldn't breathe as he watched Logan's eyes flutter open, stay like that for three seconds, and then close once again. He nearly fell off his chair as everyone reached for the call button to page the nearest doctor or nurse. Carlos didn't even care when he saw Doctor Rodgers walk in. He whirled around and along with the others, started to recount the last minute.

"Wait, hold on!" the doctor protested, holding up both hands. He was shaking his head even as the last of their voices died down. "What about now?" he asked.

Carlos turned back around to look at Logan. "Logan?" he called uncertainly.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, Logan. Come on, not again!" Kendall grabbed Logan's hand again and held it tightly. "Logan!" he called. "Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand, or- or open your eyes again!"

Carlos stared. Nothing was happening. "Logan, what-" he started.

"Come on, Logan!" Kendall pleaded. "Anything! Smile again!"

Doctor Rodgers stepped up to stand by Logan's bed. He pulled out his penlight that Carlos just didn't understand, and carefully pried open each of Logan's eyes, shinning the light in his pupils. "When he opened his eyes, did he look around at all or blink?"

"Um," Mrs. Knight bit her lip in thought. "I-I don't think so, no."

Doctor Rodgers sighed and slipped his penlight back in his pocket. "I hate to tell you this," he began. "But his smile was probably just by chance and his opening his eyes was most likely just a reflex."

"You don't know that!" Janes burst out, rising to his feet to meet the doctor. "How can you say that? It's the first sign we've had!"

"It might not have been a sign at all," Doctor Rodgers said coldly. "Coma patients frequently open their eyes and it doesn't mean anything. What we need is Logan to show us that he's aware of what's going on, and as you can see," he gestured to Logan who hadn't flinched once. "He hasn't."

"I think you need to leave now," James' father said, standing beside his son and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're not needed here."

Doctor Rodgers narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak. He looked like he was going to say something about Logan and his shrinking chances, but at the murderous look he received from Kendall, he decided on simply, "The longer he's unconscious, the less chance he has of recovering. Call me when you're ready to make a decision."

There was a blur of movement as Carlos' father jumped up with Kendall and wrapped his arms around the distraught teen, restraining him from attacking Doctor Rodgers who was making a quick exit. "Kendall, listen to me!" Carlos heard his father say. "It's not going to help Logan if you attack his doctor."

"Maybe then we'll get a real doctor!" Kendal spat out, his struggling against the strong arms that held him.

"Kendall, Doctor Rodgers is a real doctor," Mr. Garcia said gently. "And as much as we all hate him, he's one of the best. He's doing everything anyone can do for Logan."

Carlos flinched when he heard his dad's voice break, and he looked away. He kept his eyes on Logan even when he heard Kendall collapse to his knees on the floor, crying hard. This was it. Kendall, their leader, was breaking. It was the equivalent of a tornado destroying everything in it's path. Kendall had cried before, but not like this. Not soul-wrenching sobs that had Carlos doubling over, clutching his aching heart. He had never sat hunched over on the floor, all the fight gone out of him, too weak to get back up. Every other time Kendal had cried, it had been in fragile control as be sat by Logan's bedside, holding his hand and pleading with him to wake up. Now there was nothing but tears, and Carlos couldn't help but wonder if the absence of pleas meant the absence of hope as well.

* * *

><p>Carlos sat in the hospital cafeteria and stared out the window. Rain poured down from a gray sky, flooding the streets and sidewalks. People without umbrellas tried hopelessly to dodge the raindrops and wound up even more soaked when they accidentally stumbled into the large puddles that were barely unavoidable. He shivered because it looked cold outside, and then he brought his cup of coffee closer to him and breathed in its warmth. It tasted terrible, but it provided him with enough caffeine to stay awake until the hospital staff forced him to leave when visiting hours ended at eight.<p>

James was sitting across from him, but Carlos kept forgetting that he was even there because he was so quiet. He too, had a cup of coffee as well as an apple that had remained untouched since he set it down twenty minutes ago.

Carlos sighed and folded his arms on the table then rested his chin on them. "James?" he asked quietly, closing his eyes so he couldn't see his friend's face. "What do you think is going to happen to Logan?"

He heard James inhale sharply, reacting to the question. "Carlos," the other boy breathed. "I-I don't know."

"Because it's been almost three weeks," Carlos went on, frightened by the sound of his own hopeless voice. "And aside from today, which might not have meant anything anyway, Logan hasn't done anything but gotten slowly worse."

"I know."

"He's only seventeen," Carlos said, opening his eyes in time to see James flinch. "He's supposed to go to college and be a doctor and-"

"I know." James repeated flatly. He didn't want to talk about it.

There was a long silence between the two boys. Occasionally, they glanced at each other and then looked away when their eyes met. Carlos eventually went back to staring out the window because it hurt to much to see the pain and suffering on James' face. It was like looking into a mirror.

"Carlos," James said after a while. "You- you never told anyone how you found Logan. I mean, he was nowhere near where they found his car."

Carlos forced himself to look back at James. "I don't know how to tell you." he said with complete honesty.

Confusion briefly replaced the sorrow in James' eyes. "What do you mean?" he pressed.

Carlos had been wanting to tell everyone all that had happened, but so far, the only one who knew was his father. Part of him had been waiting for Logan to wake up so they could tell everyone together, but with each passing day, the reality of Logan waking up was becoming less and less likely. So Carlos was surprised when he heard himself say, "I'll tell you when Logan wakes up. It'll make more sense and be easier that way. I-I need his help."

James was clearly stunned and even more confused. "But-"

"I just don't want to talk about it, James." Carlos said, praying that he didn't hurt his friend's feelings, because it was quite honestly, one of the last things any of them needed to happen. The stress of Logan's coma was already doing enough damage to their relationships with one another.

James let it drop without another word. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "It's raining," he stated.

"Uh huh." This was what had been happening since Logan's hospitalization. Every conversation about Logan made them angry or sad, and any conversation they had about stuff other than Logan was so short that Carlos doubted it could be called a conversation in the first place.

Then something saved them from making another pathetic attempt at pretending their world wasn't crashing down around them. It was the sudden, simultaneous their cell phones, signaling that they both had a new text message. They were frozen at first, instantly realizing that it probably had to do something with Logan. Then they moved at the same time, and when he heard a gasp, Carlos knew that James saw the message at the exact same time as he did.

_ From Kendall: _

It was blank. Carlos stared at it, blinking hard and trying to decipher the meaning of it. He felt like all the air was being squeezed out of his lungs, because it was suspiciously hard to breathe.

"What-" James whispered. Carlos shot to his feet so quickly that he became dizzy and he almost fell over. "We have to go!" he exclaimed, his voice hoarse. He didn't need to check to see if James was following him. They abandoned their table and ran.

Ignoring the orders to slow down, they made it to Logan's room in five minutes flat. There was a small crowd of doctors standing just outside the door, whispering to each other and shaking their heads. The sight threatened to take all of Carlos' strength away, but James grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, pushing past the doctors and into the room.

Carlos staggered in and leaned against the wall. He shut his eyes tightly and whispered, "What happened?"

His only answer was the sound of tears that reminded him of the rain falling outside, drowning everything in sorrow.

**A/N. It's been a few chapters since I ended with a cliffhanger. I think that needed to be remedied. Thank you for reading, and I'll update when I can! In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful week!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N. Vague author's note. . . I'm really tired of all the hate I've been seeing lately. Life is too short to hate, guys, it really is. Does it really make you feel better to say horrible things to other people? I know it's not a perfect world and that we can't all just get along, but. . . all this hate is so unnecessary and really depressing. I just want it to stop. Anyway. That's all. I don't own anything. Big thanks to Anonymous Skrtle, BeingHannah923, musicfreak1107, TotallyLosingIt, bluestring, FangLover23, and any future reader for the kind words and the love for chapter eight. **

Carlos felt the world start to crumble. He felt the ground beneath him disappear and then he felt himself falling. He couldn't move or breathe. His vision was blurring around the edges. His legs buckled.

"Carlos!" Then James grabbed his arm and held him up. He tugged him away from the door, closer to the bed. "Look!" he said breathlessly.

The breathing machine had been turned off. It was off, and Logan was still breathing. He was breathing on his own. His chest was rising and falling in a steady way. The tears his family were shedding were not tears of sorrow or loss. They were tears of joy and rekindled hope. Carlos' world came uncollapsed. "Logan," He shook loose from James and moved to the bedside, nearly falling over. He clutched the rails of the bed, holding himself upright. "Logan, can you hear me?" And he watched as Logan nodded. "He nodded," he said in disbelief. "Did you-"

"Yes!" Katie said excitedly. "And he's squeezing Kendall's hand too!" "Look!"

Kendall demonstrated. "Logan. Bro, can you squeeze my hand?"

Carlos tore his eyes away from Logan's face and looked down at his hand. He watched as the limp fingers closed around Kendall's hand and held it in a strong grip. "Logie," he whispered, tears welling in his eyes.

"Sweetie, can you open your eyes for us?" Mrs. Knight leaned over Logan and gently stroked the growing bangs off Logan's forehead. "It's okay if you can't, baby. Just relax and take your time."

Carlos sucked in a deep breath of air and looked back at Logan's face, watching intently. He stared without blinking as Logan's brow furrowed in concentration, his eyelashes fluttering as if they weighed twenty pounds each.

"Take your time, Logan." Kendall said, repeating his mother's earlier words. "It's okay. You're going to be fine, buddy. I've got you. We're all here."

Logan's eyes opened a crack and then closed again before anyone could react. He tried again, squeezing Kendall's hand to let them know he wanted so badly to see them all. And then it happened. He opened his eyes again and they stayed open. He blinked slowly, clearly confused, but very much alert. He started to open his mouth as if to say something, but was stopped by the wires that were holding it together. His eyes filled with pained tears and what little color he had regained in his face was drained away. He winced and squeezed Kendall's hand tightly, looking to his brother for an explanation.

"Shhh, shhh, you're okay." Kendall soothed. Silent tears streamed down his face as he leaned over Logan, gently brushing his hair back with his his free hand. "Your jaw is broken, Logan. Just take it easy, okay? You're fine." Kendall's voice broke and he lowered his head until it rested lightly on Logan's chest. He cried in earnest then, shaking with sobs that he tried desperately to contain. As Logan, unable to speak and say anything comforting, lifted the hand that Kendall didn't have in a death grip and laid it gently on top of Kendall's head, Kendall almost instantly had his other hand there as well, holding on tightly.

For a solid minute, nobody moved or spoke. They could only sit and stare, taking in the beautiful scene before them. Logan was awake and although he was probably very confused, he was also very aware of everyone around him, his eyes filling with tears were he saw their despair melting away into relief. Katie was the first to come unfrozen. She stepped forward and promptly kissed Logan on the cheek. "I knew you would wake up!" she declared with a huge smile on her face. The very next beat, she kissed him again and said with much more vulnerability, "Thank you for waking up, Logan."

Mrs. Knight joined her children, weeping openly. She practically smothered Logan in kisses and tears, all the while smoothing back his tangled hair and whispering over and over again, two words: "Thank you."

James and Carlos hung back and waited as long as they could to give Logan's family time with him. But after twenty three seconds, James tugged Carlos forward again and sat on the edge of the bed. "Logan," he breathed.

Logan gently pulled himself free and turned to look at his friends. His eyes were full of pain and confusion and fear, but also concern. He wanted to talk, that much was obvious. He wanted to say something to all of them, but he couldn't even smile.

"Hey, Logie." Carlos said, his voice cracking with emotion. "We missed you so much, buddy. You had us all really worried and scared."

Logan grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze that reassured Carlos more than a thousand words ever could. Then he looked back at Kendall, his eyes clearly asking for an explanation.

Kendall sighed, his voice still shaky and thick with tears. "You're going to have to take it real easy, Logan." he began quietly. "You've been in a coma for nineteen days now and-" he cut himself off to lay a comforting hand on Logan's shoulder when his eyes widened in shock. "It's okay now," he repeated for the benefit of all of them. "You also have some broken ribs that pierced one of your lungs, so you were having trouble breathing on your own, but that's been healing pretty well." Kendall spoke slowly and quietly, his voice low and soothing as he broke all of the news as gently as possible, unwilling to upset his brother in the slightest. "Let's see. . ." Kendall carefully lifted Logan's casted wrist so he could see it. "Your wrist and ankle are both broken, and of course. . ." Kendall laid Logan's hand gently back down on the bed. "Your jaw. Other than that, it's some bad bruising and cuts."

Logan's eyes darted to Carlos pointedly and then back to Kendall. "You remember?" Kendall asked, smiling when Logan gave a slight nod. "Yeah, Carlos saved you. He-" and then Kendall broke off suddenly, looking at Carlos, his eyes full of dread. "Carlos is fine, Logan." he tried to say convincingly. "He's right here, see?"

But Logan shook his head and gestured weakly to the bandage that was still wrapped around Carlos' head. He looked at each of them in turn, silently begging for the truth.

"I got a little banged up too, Logan." Carlos told him carefully. "Some bruises and scratches. . . just like you." He forced a smile. "Except I didn't sleep for nineteen days and scare everyone half to death."

Logan looked slightly apologetic, but it was clear that he wasn't buying Carlos' brief explanation. He stared hard at the bandage around the younger boy's head, without blinking. Suddenly, his eyes became huge and filled with tears. He knew

. "Logie! Logie, it's okay!" Carlos cried out when he saw the pain on Logan's face that had nothing to do with his injuries. "No, no, no, Logan, shhhh. Don't cry, buddy! I'm fine, I really am!"

"You're going to hurt yourself," Kendall said anxiously. "Calm down, Logan, please. Just take a deep breath, bro."

"Logie," James said, finding his voice again. "Logan, Carlos is going to be okay, we promise. He already is okay. It was you we were worried about."

Mrs. Knight kissed him gently and then backed off, gesturing Carlos to stand closer. "Logan, she said quietly. "Everything's going to be okay, sweetie."

As soon as he was within arms reach, Logan grabbed Carlos and pulled him close. He was still weak and shaking with tears, but he managed quite easily to wrap his arms around his friend and hold him in a hug.

"Logan," Carlos murmured, his own eyes filling with tears. "It's okay. I promise." He gently hugged his friend back, wanting to hold him tighter, but not wanting to aggravate his injuries. "It's- it's just an ear, Logan."

Logan only shook harder. He pressed his face into Carlos' shoulder and let his tears soak into his shirt."You're more important." Carlos whispered. "You mean so much more, Logan. Please don't cry over what happened. I'm okay and you're okay. That's all that matters."

Finally, he felt Logan nod. He released him and carefully pulled away. "We're okay and that's all that matters." he said again. Logan's eyes were red and he hadn't fully recovered from what was to him, a devastating shock. But he was calmer now, content to hold onto Carlos' arm. He motioned weakly until Katie figured out that he was requesting for a paper and pen.

"Here." James said, finding the much needed supplies in the nearby drawer where patients were allowed to keep their personal belongings. He was still crying quietly and sniffed as he set the paper down and made sure that Logan could get a grip on the pen. It took a pathetic amount of effort for Logan scratch out two words on the paper, and all of the letters were crooked and falling all over the place. But eventually, Carlos could easily make out the words:_ I'm sorry._

"Logan," he said as firmly as he could. "All I've ever cared about for the past nineteen days, and that's not ever going to change, I promise. I'd rather lose an ear than a best friend."

Logan's eyes were bright as he took the pen back from James and painfully worked out another two word message: _ Thank you._

That brought a smile to Carlos' face, but when he spoke, his voice was still solemn. "I'd do it again in a second."

Logan took up the pen one last time. It took longer this time because the previous two efforts had tired him, but at last he gave the pen to James and held up the paper for all of them to see. Kendall smiled for the first time in almost three weeks. His green eyes were lit up in a way Carlos had thought was gone for good. Everyone smiled and for a moment, it was like nothing bad had ever happened. Gently, slipping the paper out of Logan's hand and setting it aside, Carlos whispered, "We love you too, Logan."

* * *

><p>"We should call everyone else," James whispered. Logan had fallen asleep about an hour ago, but no one had moved to leave the room once. They had hardly spoken at all, but were perfectly content to watch Logan breathe on his own as he slept peacefully.<p>

Carlos nodded in agreement, but his cell phone stayed in his pocket. He was afraid to do more than breathe. Logan had fallen asleep gripping his arm and he didn't want to move and disturb him.

"He's going to be fine," Kendall said, looking at him and reading his mind. "Here." He took out his own phone, dialed a number by heart, and handed it to Carlos.

A voice greeted him even before the transfer was complete. "Hello?" his father asked.

"Dad," Carlos said, his voice breaking already. "Hi."

"Carlos," his father said right away. "Carlos, is everything okay?"

Everything was incredible. Carlos felt a grin stretch across his face in an unfamiliar fashion. "Dad, Logan woke up. He's going to be okay."

Dead silence was his answer. Carlos could hear his dad breathing heavily on the other line and then, "What?"

"He's awake." Carlos said again, relishing the thrill he got every time he said the words. "Actually, he's asleep right now, but he woke up and he knew all of us, and was trying to talk even with his jaw, and then we got him some paper and a pen and he was writing things to us and-"

"We'll be right over," his dad said, still sounding like he could hardly believe him. "Um, who else knows?"

"James just finished talking to his patents." Carlos told him, glancing over at his friend who had just closed his phone.

"Okay. Okay. We'll be right over."

Carlos smiled again as he closed Kendall's phone and handed it back to him. "They'll be right over." he announced happily.

Kendall simply nodded and went back to watching Logan sleep. The earlier excitement had faded into a watchful concern and he just seemed to be waiting for Logan to wake to again.

"We got a miracle, didn't we?" James asked suddenly.

Mrs. Knight smiled over at him and nodded. "Yes, we did, James." she said quietly. "The perfect miracle."

Leave it to James to bring up miracles. Carlos traded smiles with Kendall. It felt so good to smile again, he realized. They had all gone so long without a reason to smile that it felt strange, yet they couldn't really stop. They were happy. Overjoyed was more like it, but Carlos wasn't picky with anything right now. Logan was awake. He was going to be okay. That was all that mattered.

**A/N. He's awake! I wanted my ANs to be happier for this chapter, but. . . too much hate lately. I LOVE you all, okay? Have a wonderful week and I promise to update as soon as I possibly can.**


	10. Chapter 10

**So sorry for the little wait, guys. I was having some issues, but hopefully things are starting to work out. Thanks for the patience! **

**Oh yeah, one more special note: Logan's speech in this chapter might be difficult to read and understand because of his jaw injury. If you don't understand something and you're curious, ask me and I'd be happy to translate! But hopefully it won't be THAT hard. :) **

Carlos jumped as he saw Logan stir out of the corner of his eye. "Logan," he said, just managing to avoid colliding with Kendall as both of them leaned forward. "Are you okay? Do you need something?"

Logan looked over both of their heads to grin at James who was standing nervously in the back ground. "m'fine." he mumbled, wincing a little. It had been two more weeks and the wires from his jaw had been removed, so he could smile and talk, but he was still very sore.

"Thirsty?" Kendall questioned, taking the cup of water that James was handing to him. "Maybe you should take a drink, Logan. A small one?"

" 'endall," Logan sighed and gently pushed the offered water away. "I'm not thirsssty." He made a face at the lisp in his voice and added, "I can't wait til I can talk right 'gain."

Kendall set the paper cup aside and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Just give it time." he advised quietly. "You've been through a lot."

Logan sighed again and leaned back against the pillows on his hospital bed. "I wanna talk to you though." he complained, a hint of an annoyed whine in his voice.

Carlos laughed and sat back down. "And we want you to talk to us," he told his friend. "But not until you're healed more." The laughter in his voice was replaced very quickly by concern. "You're still hurting."

Logan grimaced, both in pain and frustration. " 'Los? Didja. . . tell 'em what 'appened?"

Carlos froze, shocked by the unexpected turn in conversation. The entire two weeks he had been out of his coma, Logan hadn't mentioned the bizarre turn of events that led to his rescue. Not even once. And Carlos never said anything, because Logan was still recovering. It never seemed like a good time.

Kendall and James were both staring at Logan now. "What are you talking about, Logan?" Kendall finally asked.

Logan glanced at Carlos. "Do they know anythin'?"

Carlos reluctantly shook his head. "I told my dad when you were still unconscious," he said quietly. "I don't know how to tell them, Logan. I was going to wait and see if you remembered, but you still need to rest, buddy."

"What did you want to tell us, Carlos?" Kendall demanded.

Carlos looked at Kendall, really looked at him, and realized that he had been so worried about Logan, that the thought of how he had been found in the first place had never occurred to him. But now, with Logan awake and trying to talk about it, Kendall now had that same confusion and curiosity that James had possessed from the very beginning. "I don't know if Logan's up for it. . ." he said, glancing at Logan uncertainly. "I mean, I only know my side of the story and part of his, so-"

"Logan?" Kendall glanced questioningly at his brother. "Tell me honestly, are you up to this?"

There was no hesitation. Logan gave a determined nod. "Please," he whispered. "I haf to."

Logan, Carlos, and James all looked at Kendall, waiting for him to make the final decision. They could tell how much he was struggling with his desire to know and his worry for Logan. Finally, he compromised. "You can start," he conceded cautiously, holding up a hand to let Logan know that there was a condition. "But if it looks like you're getting tired or in too much pain, we're going to stop and save the rest for another time. Deal?"

"Deal." Logan said confidently. "Help me sid up a little?"

James pressed the button that elevated the head of the bed a little and then waited with Carlos while Kendall made sure Logan was comfortable. Everyone was silent, breathlessly waiting for the long awaited explanation.

"I was drivin'" Logan began. "Home. But I was runnin' late because I got a flat tire. My cell phone was dead." He looked at Kendall who had opened his mouth to say something. "I'm sowry," he mumbled shamefully. "It won't 'appen again."

"No it won't," Kendall agreed. "Because it's going to be a very long time before I let you out of my sight like that again."

Carlos and James grinned at each other when Logan blushed. "That goes for all of us, Logie." James told vowed seriously.

"An'way." Logan continued, desperate to get off the subject of the three new babysitters he had apparently acquired. "I was drivin' home, and there whas dish car wit three men-" he stopped when Kendall groaned.

"Logan, you didn't!" the blond explained, rubbing a hand through his hair and shaking his head. "It was late at night, you were by yourself, you had no cell phone, and you stopped for them?"

There was no anger in Kendall's voice, Carlos noticed. Only fear and horror and not only what happened, but also what easily could have happened. Evidently, Logan picked up on this, because he didn't look annoyed or frustrated by the interruption. He looked more sorry than ever. "Well. . . " he said slowly. "They. . . beat me up. And I was barely conscious, but I think dat they dumped me down and empty sewage drain." He reached up and tugged Kendall's hand away from his hair. "You're gonna go bald," he said gently. "Anyway, you hafta lissen to dis part. It's really 'portant."

Kendall swallowed hard and looked at James and Carlos to see how they were taking all of this in. When their eyes met, Carlos knew that Kendall saw how relatively calm he was, almost as if he had heard all of this before. And of course, he had. Kendall just didn't know that yet.

"The nex thing I knew," Logan went on. "I waz wakin' up in my bio lab clash."

"Wait, what?" Kendall asked, only to be shushed immediately by James.

"I thought that I had just had a dweam, but no one noticed me. They didn't see me or hear me. I even pushed a microscope off da table and broke it, but when I looked back, it waas there again."

James and Kendall looked like Carlos had felt the first time he heard Logan story: Bypassing the confusion and heading straight to terror because it made absolutely no sense at all.

"I was scared," Logan readily admitted. "Nothin' made shense. So I went to find you guys."

"Us?" Kendall whispered.

Logan nodded, clearly getting tired. But none of them spoke up stop him and he wasn't about to stop on his own. "I checked your class first, Kendall," he said wearily. "But you weren't there and no one noticed me. I was invisible." "Zo I went home," Logan pushed on even though he was getting to the hardest part. "And Carlos' dad and Luke were there wit you and Mom and Kady." Tears slid down his pale face. "You were all cryin'. For me."

"Logie," disregarding the fact that he was interrupting yet again, Kendall very carefully brought Logan into a hug. "Of course we were crying for you. We were terrified because you didn't come home last night and we had no way of knowing what had happened to you. You mean the world to all of us, bro."

Logan didn't try to pull away or talk again for a long while. He let himself cry and he let Kendall hold him while he cried. "I'm sowry," he said after the silence had been stretched out. His words were still thick and slurred, and it wasn't helping that he was in tears now. " 'm so sowry, 'endall. Eveyone."

"Logan, stop apologizing," Kendall told him gently. "You were trying to help those men because that's the kind of person you are. You made a lot of little mistakes and one big one, and we almost- we almost lost you." He took a deep breath and went on. "But, we didn't. That's what's important. That's all that matters now."

Logan nodded and then pulled away. His face was pale and wet with tears as he attempted a pathetic excuse at a reassuring smile for his friends.

"I think that's enough for today," Kendall said, still anxious. "This is really upsetting you, Logan, and we can't have that. You need to regain your strength-"

"I'm not gonna break," Logan mumbled in protest. "I'm almost done my part, then Carlos can pick it up."

Carlos didn't want to pick it up. He didn't want to talk about it at all. But Logan did. And Kendall and James both wanted, and probably needed, to know. Everyone deserved to know and he was already dreading when they'd have to tell the others who weren't here right now.

"None of you saw me," Logan said sorrowfully. "You were all upshet and cryin' and I couldn't help you. It was a nightmare and I couldn't wake up because it was real. It was that way at James' house too."

"You went to my house?" James asked, his eyes widening. "Logan, what- what did you see?"

"Your parents first," Logan replied, looking terribly sad and guilty all over again. "They were talkin' 'bout how- I'm like a son to them. Like you."

"Of course you are," James told him immediately. "Logan, just because you were adopted by the Knights, it doesn't mean my family or Carlos' family changed what we think about you. You've always been my little brother and I'll always be jealous of Kendall no matter how old we get."

Logan bit down hard on his bottom lip. "Thank you," he said, managing a shaky smile.

James simply nodded and then said, "My parents didn't see you or anything?"

Logan shook his head. "Neither did you," he whispered, a haunted look coming into his eyes. Then he proceeded to tell them about James and his trashed room and probably broken hand, and the way he had been sitting in his closet, crying like a little boy. Logan told them how he had left James' house to go to Carlos' house and how he had nearly suffered a complete breakdown because of affected he was after seeing how everyone was suffering. He told them of the panicked helplessness he had felt, especially when he was trying to think of what would happen if he couldn't get Carlos' afternoon.

"But you did get Carlos' attention, didn't you." Kendall broke in. The words were a statement, not a question. He knew. "Why?"

Without Logan even looking at him, Carlos knew it was his turn. "I don't know for sure," he admitted. "I've been trying to think about it for so long now, but I can't come up with a solid explanation." "I was tired of sitting at home and waiting. No one was finding anything, so I decided to go look myself. My mom was busy with my sisters, so it was pretty easy to sneak outside and go wait at the bus stop on the corner." Carlos faltered briefly and glanced over at Logan. After an encouraging nod, he took a deep breath and went on. "And. . . I was scared and worried and confused, so I literally asked Logan out loud where he was." He shrugged. "And he answered me."

James and Kendall could do nothing but stare. "What?" Kendall finally asked in disbelief.

"He answered," Carlos repeated. "He said, "right here" and it sounded like he was right next to me."

"You jus hafta believe us." Logan sighed wearily. "Guys, I could see and hear eveyone an' eveythin, but Carlos was the only one who coul' hear me."

"But why?" Kendall pressed. "Logan, how were you at school and no one could see you? What about James' house or. . . me?"

"That was what scared me the mos'." Logan confessed, looking up at Kendall. "When you couldn't see me or even hear me." "I think I know why doh," Logan continued, sitting up again. "I at leas' haf a theory." He waited until he had their undivided attention and then said, "Carlos was listening."

Silence. Carlos could hear them all breathing, but that was it. He stared at Logan, waiting for someone else to speak up because he was too scared to do so himself.

"He was. . . listening?" Kendall repeated.

Logan nodded slowly. "See, you all deal with your fears in different ways. James, you were angwy and twashed your room. Kendall, you were angry too, but you were trying to take action even if you didn't know where to start. Carlos," he paused, looking thoughtfully at his friend. "Even if he didn't realize it at the time, he was willing to accept anything, no matter how strange."

Carlos began nodding. "I remember thinking," he said slowly. "That I was dreaming or had gone insane or I was really hearing your voice. And I decided that I wanted the third option to be true. So I didn't really care if it was impossible or not."

James and Kendall were still giving them blank looks so Logan tried again. "Kendall, you're too rational to believe in something like what happened with me and Carlos. I know we've aways been close, but you weren't looking for me in dat way. You were lookin' for me in a way that had an explanation. And James, if you did hear me, it only would've been once."

James nodded. "He's right," he says softly. "I would have thought I was going insane. And I probably would have stopped listening."

"Carlos was willing to fin' me in anyway possible," Logan continued. "He was lookin' and listenin' in any and evey way he could. Even if it was impossible." He sighed and gave a helpless shrug. "I know it doesn' make sense," he said regretfully. "But it's the best I could come up with."

But it was enough. Kendall was the last to give in, giving Logan a gentle hug. "I think. . ." he said slowly. "I think I understand. Carlos' innocence is always something we've joked about, but now. . ." he trailed off and looked at Carlos. "Never change," he said solemnly. "You saved Logan."

Carlos turned bright red and ducked away. "There's something I don't understand though, Logan."

Logan smiled weakly. "Apart from everything else?" he asked.

Carlos laughed. "Yeah, I guess." He looked at James and Kendall then, including them as well. "Logan told me everything that had happened to him and I knew right away that it was up to me. No one, not even you guys, would have believed me. You all would have thought that I had gone insane. So as soon as Logan told me where he was, I took the bus there. But then. . ." and he glanced at Logan again. "Then I couldn't hear you."

"My head was hurtin,'" Logan recalled. "It hurt so much that I could harly think sometimes. It seemed like the closer we got to where I was, the more my head hurt. The las' thing I 'member is the bus stoppin'. And then everythin' went black and stayed that way until I woke up."

"You almost died," Carlos whispered. "I was almost too late."

"But you weren't," Logan said gratefully. "You saved me. Thank you for listening, Carlos."

He was still troubled, but Carlos couldn't help but smile. "Always." he promised. "Get some rest now, okay? You're supposed to be coming home sometime this week."

Logan grinned back. "Finally," he sighed happily. " 'm sick of the 'ospital."

"Soon, bro." Kendall promised softly. "Soon you'll be home where you belong."

** A/N. I hope that explanation worked as well as it did in my head and when Lauren and I were discussing it. Basically, we decided that since Carlos is the "innocent one", he would also be the one most likely to hear Logan. James would be too busy having a mental breakdown -cough-trashing his room-cough- and Kendall would be too busy trying to find a more reasonable explanation. Carlos would listen. :) **

**Anyway, I also hope that this story didn't seem to end too soon, but I'm pretty sure I covered everything that needed to be covered! If anyone has suggestions though, I might take them into consideration though. Thank you so so so so much for all of the reviews. They never failed to put a smile on my face and inspire me to write more. You guys are the best! I might be a little busy this week, but the next story I'll be working on is, "All of Me", so James fans, get ready! Have a good week, guys!**


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